Referee’s Baffling Explanation for Controversial Steelers Call: ‘No Video Evidence

PHILADELPHIA — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin says that the explanation he got from the referees on why tight end Darnell Washington and wide receiver Calvin Austin III were called for unnecessary roughness while the Philadelphia Eagles were not was ‘not sufficient.’

According to a pool report, head referee Alan Eck broke down the process behind the play and said that the referees on the field and the officials on replay assist in New York did not see the punches.

“No punches were observed on the field. Since we had flagged down, it gave New York an opportunity to review the play as well. There was no video evidence of punches observed by the Philadelphia Eagles,” Eck said.

Austin joked that he was destined to get called for the flag because he was ‘the biggest person on the field’ but admitted he was surprised the flag was called on him and that the flag was ‘whatever.’

“If I see plenty of Eagles come up and surround [Darnell], like, yeah, I’m going to come in and help my dog, but I guess being the biggest guy out there, I’m going to get flagged,” Austin said.

In a video circulating social media, Eagles cornerbacks Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell can be seen throwing punches at Steelers players. Slay hits Washington with a punch with an official looking on. No penalties were assessed to the Eagles. Instead, the Steelers were backed up from the four-yard line to the 19-yard line, and they would kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown.

Tomlin could be seen on the FOX broadcast, irate that the flags were called, which is where his reaction to the call came in after the game.