Peyton Manning Is Fed Up With The Behavior Of NFL Referees

It’s only been a month of NFL football and we’ve already had multiple referee-related controversies. But this latest one is rapidly approaching 2018 NFC Championship Game levels of fan disdain.

During Sunday’s Giants-Cardinals game, line judge Jeff Seeman appeared to swear at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride. Seeman was subsequently suspended for two games.

Unfortunately for Seeman, he earned the ire of Hall of Famer Peyton Manning last night. During the ManningCast broadcast, Peyton and Eli Manning debated a fumble play and brought up the Seeman incident during his analysis.

“That’s a fumble; they may not call it,” Peyton said.

Eli asked him what he meant and Manning said that if referees are going to curse people out, they should at least “get the fumble right.”

“I don’t know, we got refs telling players to eff off. Let’s just get the fumble right,” he said back.

“We got refs telling players to eff off. Let’s just get the fumble right.” – Peyton Manning pic.twitter.com/ymTy7HiB7G

The controversy occurred when McBride was hit by Giants CB Dru Phillips before Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett’s pass arrived. No defensive pass-interference or illegal-contact penalty was called. McBride protested to line judge Jeff Seeman, and broadcast footage appeared to show Seeman responding with profanity, repeatedly saying “(expletive) you.” McBride appeared surprised, then pointed toward the television camera after realizing the exchange had been captured.

The incident quickly became a national officiating controversy, particularly after NFLPA executive director JC Tretter called the official’s behavior “unacceptable” and argued that referees should be held to the same standards as players. The NFL investigated and on Monday suspended Seeman two games without pay for unprofessional conduct.

The punishment was especially notable because it came amid broader scrutiny of officiating behavior during Week 4. Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur called the episode unfortunate while also saying Seeman was a good person, and McBride himself did not publicly criticize the official.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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