NFL VP of officiating reveals why Cam Heyward wasn't ejected for punching Justin Herbert
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers faced off in a hard fought battle on Sunday Night Football. Los Angeles came away with a close victory, winning 41-37. But the game was not without controversy. Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward seemingly punched Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, but was not ejected from the game.
Heyward sacked Herbert, and then pushed away a Chargers player when he tried to pull him away. Heyward then came back to Herbert and appeared to have punched him.
The NFL’s Senior Vice President of Officiating Walt Anderson commented after the game on why Heyward wasn’t ejected for punching Herbert.
“The officials on the field threw a flag and called a personal foul,” Anderson said via Gilbert Manzano. “They separated the players on the field, and they announced a personal foul on 97 of Pittsburgh (Heyward). We confirmed with them that that’s what they had, the personal foul. We looked at it here in New York and just did not feel that the action rose to the level of a disqualification and further action by us.”
A reporter followed up to that statement, asking why a punch on Herbert, plus another Chargers player, wasn’t enough to warrant an ejection.
“It just didn’t look like it rose to the level of a foul that would result in a disqualification,” Anderson answered.
A former NFL referee chimed in on the Heyward/Herbert play
Former longtime NFL referee Terry McAulay had a strong response to Anderson’s reasoning behind not disqualifying Heyward from the game for punching Herbert. He said that Anderson didn’t actually answer the questions being asked to him.
“Here we go again with ‘didn’t rise to the level…,’ McAulay tweeted. “We already knew that since he wasn’t DQ’d. The question was ‘why’ didn’t it rise to the level. Was it not forceful enough? Not malicious? Something else? Those facts are important as a measure for the next time this happens.”
Herbert and the Chargers ultimately had the last laugh over Heyward and the Steelers. Despite a 27-point fourth quarter from Pittsburgh, the Chargers held on with a win. Herbert had a monster night with 381 passing yards, three touchdowns, one interception, plus 90 yards rushing. Heyward had two tackles in the Steelers loss.
The Steelers are now 5-4-1 on the season, while the Chargers improve to 6-4. Pittsburgh is currently third in the AFC North while Los Angeles is second in the AFC West.