A hot mic caught a disgruntled college football coach angrily declining a penalty flag thrown by the referees. Credit: ESPN+ via Sickos Committee on X.
By Sam Neumann on

Those tuning in for Stephen F. Austin-East Texas A&M on ESPN+ got more than they bargained for Saturday.

We’ve heard hot mics picking up coaches curing. We’ve heard hot mics picking up refs cursing. And now we’ve got hot mics picking up coaches cursing at refs.

And in case you were wondering, yes, the coach did decline the penalty.

It’s unclear what was in question here, but after East Texas A&M saw a pass on third-and-5 pass with seven minutes and change fall incomplete, the referees appeared to move the football back downfield. But, if you didn’t understand what was said, we can relay it to you here.

“I just declined the f*cking penalty, slow down,” said presumably the Stephen F. Austin head coach.

There’s no way of attributing that awesome quote to him, but it would make sense, considering the officials had moved the ball back to the 25-yard line, only for East Texas A&M’s field goal unit to trot onto the field following his colorful remarks.

We weren’t robbed of hearing much here, but considering that an official’s mic was on, we were robbed of hearing a back-and-forth here. Regardless, it was perhaps the hottest mic in referee history — and an unmistakable one at that.

The only thing that would’ve made this better is if the ref had said, “The f*cking penalty was declined, fourth down.”

Maybe next time.

[Sickos Committee]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann