Pittsburgh Steelers will not be docked draft pick for Mike Tomlin incident
By Josh Hill
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been informed by the NFL that a draft pick will not be taken away for punishment stemming from the Mike Tomlin sideline incident on Thanksgiving night. There was the looming threat of further punishment for the incident, but the Steelers have announced that won’t be coming.
Per the Steelers official team site:
"Steelers President Art Rooney II said today that the NFL has informed the team it will not be docked a pick in the 2014 Draft because of the incident involving Coach Mike Tomlin in the Thanksgiving night game against the Ravens in Baltimore."
Tomlin stepped onto the field and impeded the lane of Baltimore Ravens return man Jacoby Ford, resulting in his being tackled before he could return the kickoff for a touchdown. That looked to be the likely case before Tomlin got in his way, but the coach played it off and the league won’t further punish him or the Steelers.
Right after the incident happened, Tomlin was fined $100,000 but the league has decided that was enough and no draft pick will be docked.