Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was upset about the Patriots’ radio broadcast coming in through his team’s headsets on Thursday night and an article on the team’s website argued that the problems would disappear whenever an NFL representative went to shut off the Patriots’ communications in accordance with league rules requiring both teams work under the same conditions.
Tomlin also said that the problems always happen when the team plays at Gillette, but the Steelers announced Friday that they won’t be lodging a formal complaint with the league.
“We have provided information to NFL representatives regarding issues that occurred Thursday night at Gillette Stadium with our coach-to-coach headset communications system,” the team said in a statement. “The problem was addressed during the game and we did not have further problems in the second half. We did not file a formal complaint, nor do we plan to do so.”
The NFL has said they will conduct a “thorough review” of the communication issues, which Bill Belichick said also affected the Patriots. Headset trouble has happened at other stadiums as well, including Heinz Field, and Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Friday, via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer, he’s had problems in stadiums other than Gillette over the years.
If the problems are widespread, the NFL’s “thorough review” of communication protocols should go well beyond New England since the league is providing the equipment to teams at every stadium.
