Cassius Marsh Calls Out Referee For ‘Incredibly Inappropriate’ Act

Cassius Marsh wasn't happy with Tony Corrente on Monday night for more reasons than one.

Corrente, the lead official for the Bears-Steelers Week 9 contest, flagged Marsh for taunting late in the fourth quarter at Heinz Field. The questionable call proved to pay dividends in Pittsburgh's 29-27 victory over Chicago.

But mere seconds before Corrente brought out the laundry at Marsh's expense, he appeared to throw a light hip check at the linebacker. Marsh in real time figured it was an accident, but his viewpoint dramatically shifted upon seeing replays.

"On my way to the sideline, I got hip-checked by the ref. It's pretty clear," Marsh told reporters, per Pro Football Talk. "If I were to do that to the ref or even touch the ref, we'd get kicked out of the game and possibly suspended and fined. So I just think that that was incredibly inappropriate."

Corrente was adamant that the contact with Marsh had no bearing on the now-famous taunting infraction.

"No, not at all," Corrente told a pool reporter. "I didn't judge that as anything that I dealt with. ... That had nothing to do with it. It was the taunting aspect."

Corrente also stood firm and did not backtrack on his game-changing penalty call.

"First of all, keep in mind that taunting is a point of emphasis this year," Corrente said. "And with that said, I saw the player, after he made a big play, run toward the bench area of the Pittsburgh Steelers and posture in such a way that I felt he was taunting them."

Marsh and the Bears dropped to 3-6 on the season with their prime time loss.