Steelers’ Diontae Johnson fined $25K for ripping refs, according to sources.
PITTSBURGH, PA — Diontae Johnson, a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was fined $25,000 for his postgame comments criticizing officiating during his team’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 29, league sources confirmed to ESPN.
Johnson, who was not included in the initial list of fines in the weekly game-day accountability report released Saturday, had questioned the officials’ legitimacy, claiming they were biased against the Jaguars.
“They were calling some stupid stuff,” Johnson stated following the 20-10 defeat. “They should be fined for bad calls, making worse, terrible calls, and other such things.” That’s how angry I am. We lost the game because of them. I don’t give a damn what anyone says. They were the ones that cost us the game.”
“[The officials] wanted [the Jaguars] to win, bro,” Johnson said. They were phoning, and everything was going their way. They were receiving every call, but it is what it is.”
ProFootballTalk.com broke the story of Johnson’s fine.
Johnson was particularly irritated by the inconsistency of roughing the passer calls. Keanu Neal was called for roughing the passer on a third-down hit on quarterback Trevor Lawrence early in the first quarter, while Jaguars defensive end Adam Gotsis was not called for the hit that injured Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett in the second half
Gotsis was fined $7,167 for the hit, although Neal was not. T.J. Watt, a Steelers outside linebacker, was fined $16,391 for a first-quarter hit on Lawrence that was not penalized in the game.
An offside call on right guard Isaac Seumalo, who was called for lining up in the neutral zone, also nullified a 55-yard Chris Boswell field goal. Following the penalty, Boswell’s shot flew wide right.
If the field goal had stood, the Jaguars’ lead would have been sliced to three at the half.
“Refs were just killing us the whole game,” Johnson remarked. “The same refs from training camp.” I didn’t care for the refs today. We can’t keep moaning about the officials forever. We can’t worry about the refs, as Coach [Mike Tomlin] said. But everyone is unique.
“I didn’t care for the refs today.” They must have gotten paid well today or something, because they blew — the field goal damaged us going into halftime. That was just what we needed.”
After the game, Tomlin stated that he had never seen an offside call on a field goal in his 17 years on the bench.
In the pool report, NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson responded to Tomlin’s remark.
“Whether players are called for offsides, that’s the judgment that’s made on the field,” he said.
In the pool report, referee Alan Eck also stated, “It was a judgment call.” We went ahead and called it because it was clear on the field.”
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