An NFL referee has come under fire from fans after the Chicago Bears were hit with a taunting call late in their 29-27 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Taunting in the NFL has always resulted in a 15-yard penalty, with the team on the receiving end of any unsportsmanlike conduct to receive a boost up the field.
However, the NFL this season has put an emphasis on taunting by urging officials to penalty-flag teams and players caught in the act more so than in previous years.
With Chicago trailing Pittsburgh by three points late in the fourth quarter, a major turning point in the game appeared to take place before the Bears were flagged for taunting.
Chicago appeared to get a stop on Pittsburgh’s ensuing possession, which would’ve resulted in the Steelers punting the ball back to the Bears. But Chicago linebacker Cassius Marsh was flagged for taunting after sacking Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on third down.
Marsh was celebrating his effort in taking down the quarterback and looked relatively innocuous.
“I saw the player, after he made a big play, run toward the bench area of the Pittsburgh Steelers and posture in such a way that I felt he was taunting them,” said referee Tony Corrente said, who threw the penalty flag.
Marsh’s teammates came to his defence, with linebacker Roquan Smith calling the penalty “BS”. Marsh shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s just sad to see stuff like that happen in a close game like that,” he said. “It’s just rough. I don’t want to say too much because you all know how it is.”
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Meanwhile, Marsh said he too couldn’t see why he was called for taunting.
“It’s pretty clear to everybody who saw it that I wasn’t taunting,” Marsh said.
“I’ve been doing the celebration my whole career. It’s just sad to see stuff like that happen in a close game like that.”
The call extended Pittsburgh’s drive and allowed the Steelers to take a 26-20 lead with 2:52 remaining.
Where things got even weirder is when it appeared the same referee, on the same taunting moment, hip-checked Marsh, for which a flag came out.
“On my way to the sideline, I got hip-checked by the ref. It’s pretty clear,” Marsh said. “If I were to do that to the ref or even touch the ref, we’d get kicked out of the game and possibly suspended and fined. So I just think that that was incredibly inappropriate.”
Social media was stunned by the referee Corrente.
NFL legend Shannon Sharpe took to Twitter to suggest the NFL should “suspend” the referee as fans voiced their opinions over both incidents.
Even NBA superstar LeBron James was watching and left stunned.
https://twitter.com/ShannonSharpe/status/1457931641062449160https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1457964813607333890https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/1457923458801733633https://twitter.com/MattEurich/status/1457923108657061889https://twitter.com/AdamHoge/status/1457922856923324418https://twitter.com/RealSkipBayless/status/1457923759709380612https://twitter.com/MattForte22/status/1457942384113823746
– with AP