4x Pro Bowler Richie Incognito tables major complaint against NFL referees
Richie Incognito has not been often seen in the public eye since retiring from the NFL in 2021, but Tuesday marked a rare exception for him. The controversial former four-time Pro Bowl guard was a guest on Julian Edelman's Games with Names podcast, and he had some issues to address regarding the quality of their officiating based on his experience.
He said (1:22:03 to begin):
"(Expletive) the refs. ... You know, my thing with the refs (is), it's just so uneven - the enforcement of penalties. ... And it comes down to a critical juncture in the game. These guys haven't thrown flags for four quarters, and now they want to get the flags out."
Incognito called out referees for not doing their job. Specifically, he called for more consistency from them in terms of what penalties they call and when.
While Incognito admits he liked a couple of refs and talked to them before the game, he doesn't want to be "buddy-buddy" with any of them and is all business once the game starts.
Richie Incognito discusses 2019 Raiders-Bears London game, current whereabouts
There was, however, much more that Richie Incognito shared in that episode. Most notably, he discussed the memorable 2019 Week 5 game between the then-Oakland Raiders and Chicago Bears in London.
That game initially began scoreless, only for the Raiders to score 17 unanswered points in the second quarter - a rushing touchdown each by rookie Josh Jacobs and DeAndre Washington and a field goal by Daniel Carlson.
Fans resigning themselves to a blowout had their thoughts changed in the third, however, when the Bears scored three touchdowns - a rush by then-rookie David Montgomery, then two passes to Allen Robinson from Chase Daniel.
The game seemed over by the time the two-minute warning came for the fourth quarter - and then Jacobs rushed to the endzone for a 24-21 Raiders win.
Incognito, who was a key contributor to that Raiders rushing attack that ran for 169 yards in the game, said (1:17:43 to begin):
"The defense was kind of always like 'All right, when's the dam gonna break?' And they kind of scored real quick, in bunches. That's why I really like this game - because we had to dig deep to get that touchdown in the fourth quarter."
He also discussed what he was currently doing within the football realm (7:11 to begin):
"I'm still close to the Raiders. I still do a bunch of work. I go back to the home games. I was down in camp for two weeks training coaching the boys up... I train my guys down at EXOS (a training facility in Phoenix, Arizona)."
Besides the Raiders, Incognito played for the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, and Miami Dolphins. In those four teams, he contributed towards eight thousand-yard campaigns by four running backs: Steven Jackson, Reggie Bush, LeSean McCoy, and Jacobs.
He received his four Pro Bowl nods while playing in the AFC East, once with the Dolphins and three with the Bills.