The officiating in the Bears-Steelers game has been a hot topic of conversation since Monday night, where Tony Corrente has come under fire for his crew’s officiating in Chicago’s Week 9 loss.
Whether it was the questionable taunting call on Bears outside linebacker Cassius Marsh — that the NFL stands behind — or the phantom low block on James Daniels or the missed roughing the passer call on Justin Fields, there were several missed calls or no calls that had an effect on the outcome of the game.
Corrente’s name has been mentioned specifically in regard to the taunting call on Marsh, as Corrente was spotted hip checking Marsh before throwing the flag for taunting. And former NFL quarterback and analyst Chris Simms had some harsh words for Corrente, who he said has been known to take things personal on the field.
“I’ve seen Tony Corrente get personal to people on the field before,” Simms said on Pro Football Talk, via NBC Sports Chicago. “I’ve experienced it, I’ve seen it. I don’t mean to go after the guy, but I’m going after the guy. I’ve seen it, I’ve witnessed it personally.
“I got hit late in a San Francisco game. I threw the ball, I’m taking like four steps and I’m looking up in the stands, then I get cracked in the earhole. And I get up and I’m like, ‘That was a late hit!’ And I might have said the ‘F’ word too. It was third down, so then I run off the field.
“Usually when you come back from commercial break and stoppage time, the referee kind of gives the quarterback a kind of warning, like ‘Hey, call your play I’m about to blow the whistle.’ He’s not doing anything to me. Now we’ve gone through three commercial breaks, a quarter break and he’s just blowing the whistle while we’re all just standing around waiting for things to go, and he’s just starting the clock. So finally I go, ‘Are you going to warn me before you start the clock again? Usually that’s protocol.’ And he just goes, ‘Are you going to apologize to what you said to me earlier?’
“I wanted to lose my crap, and after the game I wanted to call him out. If we won I probably would have. But he just showed me, he was going to get personal, he was going to take the game into his own hands there.”
Corrente was asked about the contact with Marsh after the game, and he insisted it had nothing to do with the flag.
“I don’t buy any of it,” Simms said. “I don’t buy his answer. I’m calling him a liar, I don’t really care. I don’t buy it.”
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