Buffalo Bills assistant coach Aaron Kromer goes postal
A Buffalo Bills coach was booked for a misdemeanor battery charge after police say he pushed a boy to the ground, punched him in the face and threatened to kill his family -- all for using a beach chair.
Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer allegedly confronted three boys who were fishing at a Florida beach Saturday night over “the use of beach chairs,” according to a police statement first reported by NFL.com's Albert Breer.
“Victim’s told deputies Kromer grabbed their fishing pole and threw the pole into the water and then pushed one of the boys to the ground and punched him in the face,” the statement said. “It was stated Kromer then told the boys to return the chairs to where they found them.
“The victim stated Kromer also told him if he reported him to the police he would kill his family.”
Aaron Kromer has been the center of controversy, before. NFL stops with the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints have preceded his work for the Buffalo Bills.
Aaron Kromer served as interim head coach for the New Orleans Saints during the first seven games of the 2012 season due to suspensions from the team's bounty scandal. He was not implicated in the scandal. Head coach Sean Payton was forced to sit out the entire season and assistant head coach Joe Vitt was penalized for six games. Kromer's coaching record was 1-6. His next stop in his coaching carousel was with the Chicago Bears in 2013.
On December 8, 2014, Curtis Crabtree, ProFootballTalk:
Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer apologized to Chicago players Monday for anonymously criticizing quarterback Jay Cutler to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. Kromer addressed the team Monday and admitted to the players that he was the source behind the comments regarding Jay Cutler’s game management. Kromer apologized for airing the problems with Cutler and the offense outside of the Bears facility. The admission apparently caused Cutler to shake his head while Kromer issued the apology.
The BountyGate investigation by the NFL found the Saints organization as a whole guilty of conduct detrimental to the league. Several Chicago Bears players and fans believe that the Bears were targets of this program during the second game of the 2011 season, a 30–13 loss to the Saints. Quarterback Jay Cutler was sacked six times, and nearly lost his voice when a Saints player kicked him in the throat.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was so mad at the New Orleans Saints that he took away a 2012 second round pick in 2012, and a third round pick in 2013 due to BountyGate. The Saints selected S Kenny Vaccaro from the University of Texas with the 15th pick in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Prior to the draft, Aaron Kromer had moved on to the Chicago Bears for his two year stint as offensive coordinator.
With six stops in the past 14 years, Aaron Kromer has been able to stay one step ahead of the posse. This time, he was unable to even start the season with his new team, the Buffalo Bills. It will be interesting to see how his case for violating the personal conduct policy will be handled. Aaron can only hope to have arbitrator Harold Henderson hear his appeal. If Dallas Cowboys DE Greg Hardy can have his suspension reduced from 10 games to four, Kromer might be back for Game Two in Buffalo against the New England Patriots.
Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire. .
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