Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James is piggybacking on Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe’s take on an incident involving a referee.
Marsh is seen below jogging past referee Tony Corrente. It appears Corrente turns and throws his hip into Marsh as he jogs by. The flag is then thrown. Marsh was flagged for taunting the opponent.
Chicago sacked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger late in the 4th quarter trailing 23-20. Marsh walked toward the Pittsburgh sideline and stared them down. He was then flagged for taunting. That gave Pittsburgh a first down and put them back into field goal range.
The Steelers would go on to kick a game winning field goal later in the 4th quarter, winning 29-27.
Lakers superstar LeBron James doubled down on Sharpe’s comments, tweeting out:
Lakers’ LeBron James makes a very valid point. He stated that a player would be facing stiff consequences were he to do that to an official. One can logically deduce he is correct. The NFL takes any physical contact with officials seriously.
That was the 11th of 12 penalties on the Bears in that game. Many of which were considered questionable.
Consistent officiating has been a topic of discussion for years. That is true in the NFL, but especially, in the NBA where James resides.
Ever since the 2007 NBA betting scandal involving referee, Tim Donaghy, there has been more speculation in the world of sports surrounding a league’s interests. For decades soccer referees had been impacting matches. Tennis has dealt with player’s throwing matches. Other, lesser-known sports have had their share of scandals as well.
That is probably why the NFL is very sensitive when it comes to anyone criticizing its officials.
