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Bears Players Say Bucs Did Not Play A Clean Game

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The Associated Press

Published: September 23, 2008

Updated: 09/23/2008 12:11 am

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Charles Tillman jumped on the pile, took a swing and got flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the worst possible time for the Bears.

His teammates believe the referees saw only half the picture.

Still stinging after blowing a 10-point lead in a 27-24 overtime loss to the Bucs on Sunday, the Bears believe they were victimized as much by dirty play as their own mistakes.

"We saw a lot of the dirty stuff that they were doing, and we retaliated, got caught," Bears receiver Marty Booker said Monday. "It's always the second man."

The Bears (1-2) and Bucs already had several skirmishes when this scene unfolded in overtime.

Tampa Bay had third-and-9 at the Chicago 8 when Jerramy Stevens caught a 2-yard pass from Brian Griese, but instead of having to punt, the Buccaneers caught a major break.

Jeremy Trueblood took some shots at Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye during a pileup, and Tillman ran over and jumped on. Then, he was caught taking a swing at Michael Clayton, resulting in a 15-yard penalty that kept the drive going.

"There's a code," Bears defensive end Israel Idonije said. "You play tough, you play hard, but you don't intentionally go out to injure somebody.

"They called us for something that was not nearly on the same level as what was going on," Idonije said.

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