Buffalo Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, 48, was arrested early Sunday morning after he allegedly punched a a young boy in the face and threatened to kill his family if he told police.
According to Walton County Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson Jr., on Saturday night deputies with his office learned from an informant that Kromer and his son allegedly accosted three boys fishing on the beach, angry that they had moved some beach chairs. Kromer reportedly seized the boys’ fishing pole, shoved one of the boys down, then punched him. He then allegedly ordered the boys to return the chairs to their previous location, and warned the boy he punched not to call police or Kromer would kill his family.
Kromer was booked at Walton County Jail on a misdemeanor battery charge at 1:51 a.m. ET Sunday morning and released a little more than an hour later.
ESPN reported that the Bills released a statement Sunday morning, asserting, “We are aware of the report and in the process of gathering the facts.”
One source had a different version of the events triggering Krmer’s arrest, telling FOXSports.com, “It was dark out. He couldn’t see the people. The kids were belligerent and threatened him. Bottom line, they stole his property and he couldn’t identify them because it was dark out and they threatened him.”
Kromer has been part of some of the great offensive teams of recent years. He served with the Oakland Raiders as assistant offensive line coach in 2001 and offensive line coach from 2002-04. In 2002 the Raiders led the NFL in offense and reached the Super Bowl. He then joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, serving as an offensive assistant from 2005-2007.
In 2008, when the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl, Kromer served as their running backs coach. He became coach of the offensive line in 2009 and briefly served as the team’s interim head coach for the first six games of 2012. In his four seasons as offensive line coach, New Orleans sent five linemen to a total of nine Pro Bowls and tied for the NFL lead in fewest sacks allowed in the NFL with 96. In 2011, the Saints set the NFL record with 7,474 total yards and 5,347 passing yards.
In 2013, Kromer became the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Chicago Bears. The Chicago Tribune reported that Kromer slammed Bears quarterback Jay Cutler to a reporter for the NFL Network last December, but later offered a “tearful apology” at a team meeting.