An odd moment occurred right after the Bucs’ 21-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers as the Bucs headed into the tunnel. A video was captured of the referees from the game,  Jeff Lamberth and Tripp Sutter, going up to Mike Evans in what looked like they asked him to sign an autograph on a piece of paper that they had.

Here’s the video to see for yourself.

Obviously, this a terrible look for the referees. They are supposed to be impartial when calling the game. Even though this occurred after the game was finished, one could infer that potentially a player that you were going to ask an autograph for may get favorable penalty calls beforehand.

Bucs WRs Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs didn’t do themselves any favors by playing so poorly to be in a spot to get any calls, but regardless it’s not a good look for the officials. You never know when they might be calling another Bucs game later on this season.

NFL Makes Statement Following The Bucs Game

As the video when widespread, the NFL announced they would be investigating the situation. Then on Tuesday, they made a statement saying they confirmed that the referees were not seeking an autograph. Each referee was reminded that it’s important to avoid what even may look like impropriety with players.

Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweeted out the full statement.

More To The Story

The question now becomes: What was Evans writing on that paper? Thankfully, we have an answer to that as well.

According to Pelissero, Evans was giving his phone number to Lamberth so that he could give it to a golf pro that Evans can get golfing lessons from. Evans and Lamberth both went to Texas A&M so there is a mutual connection. Since both were coming off the field and didn’t have their cell phones privy, the next best thing they could do is have Evans write down his number.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Pelissero explained it all here.