The Steelers’ Official Site Suggests The Headset Malfunction In New England Was Intentional

Following Thursday night’s 28-21 Patriots’ victory over the Steelers in the NFL’s season opener, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin angrily insinuated that New England had tampered with Pittsburgh’s radio coaching communications. According to Tomlin in his postgame presser, the Steelers’ coaching headsets were playing the Patriots’ local radio broadcast through much of the first half.

When asked about it after the game, Tomlin said that interference is “always the case” when his team visits New England, which, after all the controversy that has surrounded the Patriots this summer, infers that the Pats are behind the radio jamming.

After that press conference, the Steelers’ official website posted an article — penned by team beat writer Bob Labriola — which goes into more detail about what happened on the sidelines during the headset mishap early in the game. This is where it gets interesting:

That obviously makes it seem as though there was some intentional tampering going on, but it’s worth noting that Bill Belichick also said that the Patriots dealt with radio issues during the game, as well. Also, the NFL released a statement following the game that seemed to downplay the whole incident.

In the first quarter of tonight’s game, the Pittsburgh coaches experienced interference in their headsets caused by a stadium power infrastructure issue, which was exacerbated by the inclement weather. The coaches’ communications equipment, including the headsets, is provided by the NFL for both clubs use on game day. Once the power issue was addressed, the equipment functioned properly with no additional issues.

It’s quite an odd scenario, but it’s hard to envision the NFL releasing such a statement if it believed the Patriots were intentionally behind the incident, especially after everything that happened this summer.