Ben Roethlisberger Punched in Steelers vs Raiders Game

Ben Roethlisberger Punched in Steelers vs Raiders: Ben Roethlisberger punched by Richard Seymour in the Steelers vs Raiders game at Heinz Field on Sunday.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger has played a fantastic game on Sunday against Oakland Raiders. Ben Roethlisberger finished the game with 275 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Ben Roethlisberger made three touchdown passes of 52 yards to Mike Wallace, 22 yards to rookie Emmanuel Sanders in the second quarter and 16 yards to Isaac Redman in the second quarter.

Oakland Raiders defensive end Richard Seymour punched Ben Roethlisberger with the hand in the jaw. Later, Seymour was apologized to Ben and his teammates for his behavior and said “I’m not sure why he ran up on me. I just turned around and it was a natural reaction.”

But, Pittsburgh Steelers coach, Mike Tomlin was serious about the punch and said, “I’ve never seen a quarterback get punched since I’ve been in this league.”

Ben Roethlisberger says, “Let’s get ready for the extra point.”

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Mike Tomlin takes the high road on Richard Seymour's punch

You've seen and heard about it dozens of times by now: Richard Seymour(notes) briefly went bananas yesterday and punched Ben Roethlisberger in the face.
But I think it's worth taking a minute to express some appreciation for the way Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin talked about the punch in his post-game press conference. It would've been easy for any opposing coach to hammer  Seymour, because for a brief moment, he was mindless and violent.
Tomlin wouldn't do it, though. Here's what he said.

"I got big-time respect for Richard Seymour as a football player. That guy's got an 11-year resume that's pretty impressive as a professional. I'm not going to let that play cloud my opinion on Richard Seymour. I think he's an awesome football player and a professional. It just got away from us, all parties involved today."

That's a thoughtful man taking the high road. It feels like that's too rare in sports.
The non-stop demand for media coverage of the NFL creates an unforgiving, knee-jerk, rush-to-judgment, you-are-what-you-did-five-minutes-ago type of atmosphere. It's not always fair. And in this case, it would have been completely fair for Tomlin to throw Seymour under a bus, because what he did was inexcusable.
Instead, Tomlin chose to be forgiving and understanding while acknowledging that both teams got heated out there. He put Seymour's 11-year career ahead of one angry, frustrated lapse.
It was a classy and good-hearted way for Mike Tomlin to handle things. Seymour set a ridiculous example for any young football player watching, but Tomlin took it and flipped it into an opportunity to set a good example.

Related: Richard Seymour, Pittsburgh Steelers, Awww ... Heartwarming

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