OK, before you bash me, which is going to happen, let me preface this article off the right way. Regardless if it was Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Tony Dungy, John Fox or Vince Lombardi, I’d feel the same way.
Tomlin deserves not just a fine, but he needs to be suspended at least one game by the NFL for intentionally getting in the way of Jacoby Jones on Thanksgiving.
Intentional or not — it was — Tomlin needs to sit out one game. The NFL admitted that it blew the call, and the league said that they should have penalized Tomlin. The only penalty he’s probably going to get from the league is a $25,000 fine or so.
What does that do, really?
Is that going to make coaches or players, for that matter, afraid to interfere from the sideline?
The quick answer is no.
The way that Tomlin reacted to it with a smile, not to mention the fact he admitted he was wrong, showed he knew exactly what he was doing. If you see it different, please allow me to invite you to take off your Black and Yellow Yinzer glasses.
Maybe the media is making too big of a deal about the whole thing. It’s quite possible. But if the Steelers would’ve won the game due do the potential touchdown Jones would’ve scored there, then you really would’ve seen it blown up much more.
Put yourself in the position of a Ravens fan. Say on Thanksgiving, Antonio Brown was going down the sideline only to have Harbaugh get in the way of him and get away with it. What would your reaction be? Fire Goodell, right? The league has it out for the Steelers. Yup, that makes sense for the league to target the most marketable franchise in the league.
Sideline incidents aren’t the norm in the NFL, and there’s a reason for that. In fact, the last case that we saw was in 2011 when the Jets strength coach Sal Alosi tripped a Miami Dolphins player. Alosi wasn’t just fined $25,000, but he was suspended and subsequently lost his job, as well as his career.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is why we don’t see it happen too often.
But if the league lets Tomlin go with a slap on the wrist fine, you will see it happen again and again.
Now, it wasn’t malicious in any way, but the intent was there. He didn’t fake interfere with him as former coach Bill Cowher did. No, not at all. His actions more closely resemble what Alosi did than what Cowher did.
If and when the league simply hands out a fine, Tomlin will gladly accept it, as would any other coach. If you anonymously poll every head coach in the league, 99 percent of them would trade $25,000 to take away a touchdown for a shot to win the game.
Now, if the league says that Tomlin has to miss the Dolphins game, the precedent will be set. No more interference from the sideline, or you have to sit out a game.
Here’s hoping the league does the right thing, but as has been the case in recent years, I’m not holding my breath.
