The Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles got off to a chippy start on Sunday evening when Steelers’ tight end Darnell Washington continued his block on Eagles cornerback Darius Slay all the way through the back of the end zone.
That block sparked a brawl that saw laundry flying out of the pockets of several officials.
Fight breaks out with Steelers and Eagles players. Offsetting penalties. pic.twitter.com/7URLV395KY
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) December 15, 2024
It was seemingly your standard fare skirmish, with players on both sides getting their licks in. As such, after running through several replays, Fox’s lead NFL play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt chimed in with the opinion of the network’s rules analyst Dean Blandino.
“And so they’re going to sort this all out, but Dean Blandino tells us it will be offsetting penalties,” Burkhardt said.
As it turns out, Blandino didn’t have quite the beat on the referees’ flags as he thought he did. Once the action had died down on the field, and the refs had a moment to discuss, they called two personal foul penalties, both of which were assessed to the Steelers.
That didn’t sit well with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who seemed to share Blandino’s assessment of the ordeal. Fox cameras caught the coach saying what appeared to be some choice words after an explanation from the referee.
Mike Tomlin’s reaction to those offensive penalties on the Steelers. pic.twitter.com/2EceHYnRHL
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 15, 2024
We here at Awful Announcing don’t pretend to be professional lip readers, so there’s certainly room for interpretation here. But it appears that Tomlin told the ref, “Get the f**k away from me,” complete with a dismissive wave.
Tomlin has proven over the years that he has a way with words. That’s been highlighted recently during his appearances on Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North.
Typically his words are motivating, which is surely what Tomlin intended that phrasing to be for the official.
[NFL on Fox]
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.