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Chris Simms went in on NFL referee Tony Corrente, accusing him of making calls based on his personal feelings about players.
“I’ve seen Tony Corrente get personal to people on the field before. I’ve experienced it, I’ve seen it,” Simms said on “Pro Football Talk” this week. “I don’t mean to go after the guy, but I’m going after the guy. I’ve seen it, I’ve witnessed it personally.”
Corrente took heat for a taunting penalty he called on the Bears’ Cassius Marsh after a late-game sack on third down when Chicago was trailing by three points.
Corrente’s call came into question because the referee pulled the flag after making contact with Marsh. The linebacker said the official gave him a “hip check.”
Corrente later said his call was not related to making contact with Marsh on the field. The NFL reviewed the play and stood behind Corrente’s c all.
“I don’t buy any of it,” Simms said about Corrente’s explanation. “I don’t buy his answer. I’m calling him a liar, I don’t really care. I don’t buy it.”
Simms, an NFL quarterback for eight seasons, recalled a game he played against the San Francisco 49ers, and Corrente was officiating.
“I got hit late in a San Francisco game… And I get up and I’m like, ‘That was a late hit!’ And I might have said the ‘F’ word too,” Simms said. “Usually when you come back from commercial breaks and there’s stoppage time, the referee kind of gives the quarterback a warning like, ‘Hey, call your play, I’m about to blow the whistle.’ He’s not doing anything to me. Now we’ve gone through three commercial breaks, a quarter break, and he’s just blowing the whistle and starting the clock while we’re all just standing around waiting for things.
“Finally, I go, ‘Are you gonna warn me before you start the clock again? Usually that’s protocol.’ He goes, ‘Are you gonna apologize for what you said to me earlier?’ I wanted to lose my crap. After the game, I wanted to call him out. If we won, I probably would have. He just showed me he got personal and was gonna take the game into his own hands there.”
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