PITTSBURGH — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell probably welcomes his latest officiating controversy. It sure beats the Aaron Rodgers debacle and the Washington Football Team email scandal (maybe the league will have the emails destroyed like the Spygate tapes).
But that could change in a playoff scenario.
I'm guessing Roger the Dodger wouldn't want a playoff game decided by this asinine new emphasis on "taunting," one the players say they never signed up for.
Millions saw it play out Monday night, and even if you were watching through black-and-gold glasses, you have to admit: If the taunting call against the former Steeler player had gone against a current Steeler, you'd have been throwing large objects at your television.
Basically, it was a penalty for looking. Fifteen yards, at a critical moment, for looking.
That's what Chicago Bears linebacker Cassius Marsh did. He looked toward the Steelers bench, from a very safe distance, after sacking Ben Roethlisberger with 3:16 left, turning a punt into a first down and an eventual 52-yard field goal.
Marsh's mouth was not moving as he looked, so unless he's a ventriloquist, he said nothing to the Steelers bench (not that anyone would have heard him, from a quarter of the way across the field, and not that it should have mattered).
I'm firmly in the corner of another former Steeler, Ryan Clark of ESPN, who tweeted, "That is such a trash call Mr. Official. No one is hurt by that play. Taunting? C'mon!"
If you prefer a more sanitized version of that, consider what ex-NFL ref Gene Steratore told WDVE on Tuesday morning: "To me, that's not the flavor of what the rule was intended to be."
Who knows how the rest of the game plays out with a punt and no Steelers points there? As it was, they pulled out one of the worst wins in franchise history, 29-27, on a late field goal.
All anyone wanted to talk about afterward was the call and the curious reaction from referee Tony Corrente, whose crew embarrassed itself all night.
Did you see Corrente, as he was reaching for his flag, intentionally back into Marsh as the linebacker ran toward the Bears sideline?
What was that about? The league needs to ask Corrente to explain himself. It almost looked like he was so insecure about the flag he was about to throw that he wanted to make Marsh look bad. He then threw the flag into the air like he was celebrating the ball drop on New Year's Eve.
"I got hip-checked by the ref," Marsh said. "If I were to do that to a ref, or even touch the ref, we'd get kicked out of the game. Possibly suspended or fined. I just think that was incredibly inappropriate."
Corrente, speaking with a pool reporter, said the contact had nothing to do with his call — and he explained the call like this: "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."
Awww. Did he hurt their feelings, Tony? Thank you for protecting the Steelers' self esteem.
What a farce.
You had to know this pathetic "point of emphasis" would wind up producing such moments. And the first important thing to know is that the league might have lied — can you believe it? — in saying the players were on board.
In fact, that's the very first thing the league mentioned in its always exciting points-of-emphasis video before the season: The NFL Players Association wanted this.
Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL Competition Committee, later said the taunting emphasis was "unanimously supported" by the NFLPA.
That was news to the NFLPA.
"I can assure you, as an attendee of the competition committee meeting myself, that was not the case," said Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter. "On the contrary, we would support the removal of this point of emphasis immediately."
There have already been more than twice as many taunting calls as the 11 issued last season. Several have been laughable — and crucial — whether it was Eagles linebacker Genard Avery briefly staring at Bucs running back Leonard Fournette, or Giants fullback Elijhaa Penny signaling first down and giving a "quick head nod" toward Chiefs linebacker Ben Niemann.
Oh no. Not a head nod!
These calls are impacting games — and potentially playoff spots.
The problem was always going to be interpretation. We all know blatant taunting when we see it (somebody stands over his victim and puts a finger in his face), but what about all the other plays that maybe, could be, might be construed as taunting?
Ray-Ray McCloud spiked the ball on the Bears sidelines after his first punt return. Was he mad he didn't break it or celebrating his 14-yard return?
Did he hurt the Bears' feelings?
Good thing Corrente wasn't watching.
I keep hearing it's "zero tolerance" on taunting these days. Really? Because I see defensive backs looking toward the opposing bench after breaking up passes and players jawing at each other all the time. Almost none of it is called. Almost none of it should be.
I'm certainly not defending the Bears. They can't even line up properly or put the requisite number of players on the field. But they didn't deserve this, or a couple of other horrendous calls from Corrente & Co., including a phantom "low block" that wiped out a touchdown.
Goodell might welcome the distraction now. He won't when the games really start to matter.
Somebody might lose the Super Bowl for looking.
