Jay Glazer reported on possible punishment for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin after Tomlin’s near-interference with a Baltimore Ravens kick returner this past Thursday: “The Commissioner’s Office is going to come around on this tomorrow. Look, there are reports out there that they could lose draft picks. They’re not even talking about that. The Jets didn’t lose draft picks with the Sal Alosi incident a couple of years ago.
Is he [ Mike Tomlin ] going to get a hefty fine? Yes, he is going to get a hefty fine but here is what the world doesn’t know; the irony of all ironies on the day before this happened the NFL actually sent out a video to all head coaches saying, ‘listen, we’re going to warn you right now to stay off the white [line] on special teams plays.’ They actually flagged the Jets earlier in the week for the same thing, on a punt return. Obviously with the Steelers playing on Thursday, they didn’t watch the video on Wednesday.”
Jimmy Johnson on whether or not the Mike Tomlin sideline incident was intentional: “Only Mike knows what was in his head, but seeing the little smirk on his face I think it indicates that he looked at the jumbotron, he saw that it was just a reaction without thinking. I don’t think it’s a problem.”
ESPN ‘s take, on whether Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin crossed the line …
Tom Jackson: “Mike Tomlin took responsibility for it. He was in the wrong. He was too close to the field of play. He made Jacoby Jones veer inside. We all are aware of that. I don’t believe he did it intentionally. If you know him, he was not trying to impede his (Jones’) progress. Exactly what he said, ‘he looked up, saw the guy was going to be right on top of him, he tried to get out of the way – couldn’t do it in time to not affect Jacoby Jones.’ A fine is going to come down. You have to judge intent before you start talking about draft picks.”
Mike Ditka: “I am on the coach’s corner. Get over yourself. That guy was not going to score a touchdown … He was going to be caught anyway. It doesn’t change the outcome of the play in my opinion … I don’t think he did it on purpose.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS Catch him Tuesdays talking Illini and Northwestern for KOZN 1620 The Zone, Fridays talking Chicago Bears for WAOR 95.7 The Fan