The Mike Tomlin sideline incident on Thursday when he stood too close to the field and forced Ravens returner Jacoby Jones to change his path has received a ton of attention, and it was probably assumed by most people that the league would fine him and that would be that.
But a report on Sunday indicated the league is really, really angry and perhaps ready to overreact.
NFL.com reported that not only does Tomlin face a fine, which ESPN said could be six figures, but the Steelers face a fine as well and might be stripped of a draft pick too.
That's utterly ridiculous.
Most likely, the league leaked this to put fear into any team that is even thinking about getting a little too close to the field on their sideline to disrupt a run, as Tomlin did. There's no way the NFL would strip the Steelers of a draft pick over that play ... right?
Fox's Jay Glazer had reported that the league had warned teams about sideline interference the day before, so that might play into the punishment. Still, to go from not even getting a penalty flag on the play to losing a draft pick seems extreme, to say the least.
But, if the NFL is sending a message by letting it be known the Steelers might lose a draft pick over that play, it will probably work. You can be sure that nobody will be anywhere near the restricted area of the sideline the rest of this season.
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