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Troy Aikman Rips Referees Over ‘Ridiculous’ Taunting Penalty Against Dolphins

Stephen Douglas

Jordyn Brooks stood over Pat Freiermuth after a big hit and it cost his team big time.
Jordyn Brooks stood over Pat Freiermuth after a big hit and it cost his team big time. / ESPN
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Aaron Rodgers was near-perfect against the Dolphins on Monday Night Football in Week 15. Rodgers completed 23 of his first 27 passes and the Steelers scored touchdowns on four straight drives after punting on their first three of the game.

Miami actually looked like they were going to get a stop in the third qurater when Jordyn Brooks hit Pat Freiermuth short of the line to gain on third down, but one official didn't like the way that Brooks stood up. A flag was thrown and the drive was extended.

Unlike his reaction to watching Aaron Rodgers watching the Tush Push, ESPN’s Troy Aikman was not impressed.

"If this is a penalty on the Dolphins for taunting for after the play that's gonna be unbelievable," said Aikman as they waited for the officials to sort things out.

"I personally didn't see anything after the play," said Aikman. "But we'll take a look at it and see if we can't follow it. I know the official who threw the flag, he was quite a ways away."

ESPN's rules analyst Russel Yurk stuck up for the call saying that standing over an opponent was "a point of clarification and emphasis" this season, but Aikman was not convinced.

"That's ridiculous. I mean, that's not much. That's not much at all in my opinion. I don't know. I think it's a terrible call. And I'm not excusing the behavior. Just don't think there's enough there."

Instead of punting, the Steelers proceeded to march down the field for another touchdown and extend their lead to 28-3 and with that the game—and the Dolphins season—was basically over.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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