There isn’t enough side-eye in the world for what this referee gave Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Referee Alex Kemp certainly looked displeased after the Seahawks’ star walked past him and shouted a soft swear into a hot mic following Kemp announcing a holding penalty against the receiver during Seattle’s 23-20 win over the Cardinals on “Thursday Night Football.”
“That’s some bulls–t,” Smith-Njigba said for all the world to hear after the call negated a second rushing touchdown for running back Zach Charbonnet.
Kemp attempted to turn off his mic as that happened but to little avail, as Smith-Njigba’s comments were still heard by the millions watching.
As Smith-Njigba went back to the huddle, Kemp stared at him while surely debating whether to drop a flag and a 15-yard penalty.
The drive ultimately ended in a field goal, pushing the Seahawks’ lead to 20-6, as Seattle consistently played for field goals throughout the game’s final quarter.
The Prime broadcasters, Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, chuckled at Smith-Njigba’s reaction to the holding penalty call, while rules analyst Terry McAulay agreed that this was indeed a holding penalty.
“Good call by Alex Kemp not to throw [a flag] — you know, it’s one thing if you say something in an open mic. But if the mic’s not open, right, you get away with it,” Michaels said.
“He gave him the look,” Herbstreit replied.
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“He did,” Michaels said. “Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.”
“My kids make fun of me,” Herbstreit added. “I have four sons, and when they were younger, I used to give them this look right here.”
“Just a misdemeanor this time,” Michael replied.
The Seahawks improved to 3-1 with their win and now have a mini-bye to prepare for Week 5, while the Cardinals have now dropped two straight to fall to 2-2.