Former Ohio State Star Says 1 NFL Referee Dislikes Buckeyes
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 25: Garrett Wilson #17 of the New York Jets stands during the national anthem against the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium on September 25, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson thinks a certain NFL referee has a vendetta against Ohio State alums.
Last night, during the Chargers-Jaguars playoff game, former Buckeye Joey Bosa was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after saying something to referee Shawn Smith. Right after that happened, Wilson took to Twitter to make a surprising claim about Smith.
"That ref. He don’t [f--k with] Buckeyes. I see he getting on Bosa’s nerve tonight," Wilson tweeted.
This seems like an out-of-nowhere comment from Wilson, until you look at something he said during the regular season.
Wilson,, a 2022 first-round pick out of Ohio State, claimed that during the Jets' game against the Patriots on Oct. 30, a ref told him "this ain't O State no more" in response to the rookie asking for calls.
As it turns out, the referee in that Jets-Pats game on Oct. 30 was none other than Shawn Smith. Does Smith actually have it out for ex-Buckeyes? We're guessing no, but now it makes sense why Wilson's mind went there when he saw what happened with Bosa.
Bosa wound up incurring two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Saturday. The second one was even costlier than the first, coming after the Jaguars scored a touchdown to cut what had been a 27-0 deficit to 30-26 late in the fourth quarter.
As a result, Jacksonville's point after try was moved up to the one-yard line, further enticing Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson to go for two.
Jacksonville got the two-point conversion on a Trevor Lawrence quarterback sneak, and later won the game on a field goal by Riley Patterson as time expired.
