Hot microphones are rarely a bad thing. Sure, they pick up the occasional profanity, but that’s a small price to pay for reactions like we got when Pittsburgh safety Mike Mitchell disagreed with a facemasking penalty Sunday.

Here’s the play in question:

That could certainly go either way. It looked like Mitchell had his facemask grabbed first, pushing his eyes away from the play and preventing Mitchell from seeing what exactly he was grasping for on the other end. But he did seem to have a grip on Corey Coleman’s facemask, too, and by the letter of the law, that’s a penalty. As officials deliberated, though, Mitchell attempted to plead his case. It did not go well:

That’s a fantastic reaction. Not sure what he wanted the officials to look at in that scenario, though, but maybe it doesn’t hurt to ask? Also, has any lobbying of officials ever worked? This one certainly didn’t.

In the end, though, the Steelers held on for a 27-24 win, so at least Mitchell can look back and laugh at it.

Probably.

[SI]

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.