More than a decade after a controversial moment during a 2013 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, Mike Tomlin says he still remembers the incident that led to an NFL investigation and a $100,000 fine.
Speaking on the *Not Just Football* podcast, Tomlin explained that he was watching the kickoff return on a stadium video screen when he realized he had moved close to the play. He said the screen’s view left him disoriented about his position on the field.
“The truth didn’t save me from a fine,” Tomlin said. He recalled looking up at the screen after the ball was kicked and seeing himself appear in the picture. “That’s when I discovered that he was coming up our sideline.”
The incident occurred in the third quarter, after Pittsburgh scored a touchdown. Baltimore’s Jacoby Jones caught the ensuing kickoff and returned it 73 yards. As Jones ran down the sideline, he came close to Tomlin, who was standing near the field. The moment prompted speculation that Tomlin had deliberately stepped into Jones’s path in an attempt to trip him.
Tomlin said that was not his intention. He recalled seeing a Steelers player go down during the play and said he became confused about where he was in relation to the action. After spotting himself on the jumbotron, he moved to his left because he feared Jones might run into him.
“Spatially, I get disoriented where I am and I’m watching something that I don’t want to happen,” Tomlin said. “I saw myself on the jumbotron. And when I saw myself and I saw where I was, I just immediately moved to my left. It was scary, you know what I mean? ’Cause I thought I was going to get run over.”
Tomlin also said that following kickoffs from the jumbotron was part of his regular routine, not something he began doing that day. He would speak with the kickoff unit before it went onto the field, then watch the play from the screen to get an aerial view of how the two teams were lining up and moving.
He said the Baltimore stadium had a jumbotron at only one end at the time, which contributed to the unusual perspective he described. Tomlin also said the NFL examined his behavior before the incident as part of its investigation.
The league fined him $100,000, determining that he had stood too close to the field and interfered with Jones’s return. It also warned Pittsburgh that the team could lose draft picks in 2014, though the Steelers ultimately did not forfeit any. The league’s view was that Tomlin had stepped onto the field and that the action could have warranted an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Jones said after the game that Tomlin’s presence affected his movement, although he acknowledged that he still should not have been caught.
“It broke my stride a little bit,” Jones said. “(But) I still shouldn’t have got caught.”
The image of Tomlin smiling on the jumbotron after the play also became part of the controversy. Tomlin’s explanation on the podcast revisited why he had been watching the screen and why he moved when he saw himself in the picture.
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger defended Tomlin’s account in 2013. Speaking on 93.7 The Fan, Roethlisberger said he did not believe the coach had acted intentionally. He also said he understood why Tomlin watched the jumbotron, explaining that it could provide a better view of the play.
Although years have passed, the episode remains a memorable moment in Tomlin’s coaching career. The story also took an unexpected turn in 2015, when Pittsburgh claimed Jones off waivers and brought the former Ravens returner to the Steelers.
