Tony Corrente made his presence felt Monday night at Heinz Field.
Corrente issued a game-changing penalty call late in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ narrow win over the Bears. The veteran NFL referee whistled Cassius Marsh for a questionable taunting infraction and appeared to hip check the Chicago linebacker mere seconds before tossing the yellow flag.
Chris Simms, a former NFL quarterback who was in the league for seven seasons, wasn’t very surprised by Corrente’s actions.
“I’ve seen Tony Corrente get personal to people on the field before,” Simms said on “ProFootballTalk,” as transcribed by NBC Sports. “I’ve experienced it, I’ve seen it. I don’t mean to go after the guy, but I’m going after the guy. I’ve seen it, I’ve witnessed it personally.”
Corrente after the Week 9 primetime game claimed the contact with Marsh had nothing to do with the taunting penalty being called. Simms emphatically refutes that declaration.
“I don’t buy any of it,” Simms said. “I don’t buy his answer. I’m calling him a liar, I don’t really care. I don’t buy it.”
Marsh probably isn’t buying it, either. The eighth-year linebacker, who was making his Bears debut Monday night, called the bump from Corrente “incredibly inappropriate.”
Corrente’s next assignment will be in Indianapolis on Sunday when the 4-5 Colts host the 2-5 Jacksonville Jaguars.
