Coach Mike Tomlin upset that Steelers’ headsets got Patriots radio broadcast during game
Of all the weeks, of all the teams, it was pretty funny that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ headsets went out at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.
This week, there were renewed stories of the New England Patriots and their suspicious activities. A part of the ESPN story that mostly detailed spygate talked about how opponents often have their headsets go out and the most inopportune times when they’re playing in New England.
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And with the entire NFL world watching the Steelers-Patriots opener, after hearing all offseason about potential Patriots shenanigans, Pittsburgh’s headsets were suddenly getting the Patriots’ radio broadcast piped into them, NBC said during the broadcast.
“Opponents would not call that trouble, they would call that … whatever,” NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said on the broadcast. “Every team that I know of has some story of what happens to them in this stadium, and of course deflate-gate was all part of that, and that’s not going to help, the fact they’re getting those radio signals in their headsets.”
Tomlin agreed. And he didn’t hide his displeasure with the issue after his Steelers lost the game, 28-21.
NBC sideline reporter Michele Tafoya said that the radio broadcast was bleeding into the Steelers’ coach-to-coach headsets. The Patriots’ coach-to-coach headsets were turned off while the issue was fixed. By the start of the second quarter everything was fixed, Tafoya said.
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It’s hard to imagine the Patriots would sabotage the Steelers’ headsets with such a huge audience watching and all eyes on their actions. And as SiriusXM NFL Radio pointed out, the NFL controls the headsets anyway. But it surely won’t slow down the narrative of unusual things happening around the Patriots.
For what it’s worth, head coach Bill Belichick said the Patriots had headset issues too that lingered throughout the game (see video below).
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
