A pair of NFL officials are in the spotlight after getting caught in viral incidents involving players during Sunday’s slate of games.
During Vikings-Dolphins matchup, Adrian Hill got in the face of Minnesota linebacker Eric Wilson after the referee had accidentally been knocked to the ground during a play.
Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon had been blocking Wilson when a play was blown dead and had pushed the defender into Hill, knocking the ref down.
Hill sprung to feet and then immediately got in Wilson’s face, yelling at him and pointed him back to his huddle, but didn’t throw a flag on the play.
Wilson downplayed the incident after the game, saying that he apologized and it wasn’t a big deal.
“That was funny, honestly,” Wilson said. “I ended up apologizing to him and explained the situation. He was cool about it. He understood what was going on.
“He just said he didn’t want us fighting, me and (Gordon). He said he was just trying to break us up.”
Did a referee swear at Trey McBride?
The Hill-Wilson standoff wasn’t the only incident between a player and officially on Sunday, either.
During the game between Arizona and the New York Giants, a referee appeared to be caught on camera swearing at Cardinals star Trey McBride.
While the tight end was arguing his case on the sideline over a call, line judge Jeff Seeman appeared to curse at McBride, telling him “F*** you,” at least twice.
McBride, who was being guided back to the bench by a team staff member, showed his frustration before pointing to a camera that had caught the exchange.
According to ESPN, the NFL is reviewing both incidents while NFL Players Association executive director JC Tretter condemned Seeman’s actions in a statement on social media.
“This kind of behaviour from an official towards a player is unacceptable,” Tretter said. “Players are consistently held accountable when the roles are reversed. We expect the NFL to hold officials to the same standard.”
What happened with Pats coach Mike Vrabel?
NFL officials were on the receiving end of some verbal abuse on Sunday as well.
During New England’s upset win over the Buffalo Bills, Pats head coach Mike Vrabel received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for telling an ref “that’s a terrible f****** call.”
After the game, Vrabel said that the official was just being “a little sensitive.”
“I’ve said that about 87 times since I’ve been a head coach,” Vrabel said. “It was nothing derogatory. You’d have to ask him, I think he was a little sensitive.
“Once I get the word from upstairs that it wasn’t what we felt like was a good call, which I’m going to trust (Patriots VP of football operations and strategy John Streicher) with my life.
“I probably shouldn’t have swore, but I can tell you in my history of being on the sidelines as a head coach, I’ve said that.”