#STEELERS KICKOFF UPGRADE#

He reenacted how Tomlin had his back to the kickoff return while watching the video board. Jones was greeted on the sideline by teammates heckling him for getting chased down and tackled at the Pittsburgh 27-yard line. The surprising subplot is how few people - from the sellout crowd at M&T Bank Stadium to the national television broadcast crew to even the players themselves - initially didn't notice Tomlin's score-saving sidestep. With his jaw dropped and a stunned look on his face, Jones used the same hand that had the ball to point at Tomlin. That slight adjustment to his path allowed Jones to get caught from behind by Steelers cornerback Cortez Allen. Tomlin hopped to his left at the last second, but Jones had to swerve to his right to avoid hitting him. 'I'm like, 'He's not moving.' So I eased up and moved in.' 'I'm running and I'm like, 'Are you gonna move?'' Jones recalled recently. Just 38 yards from the end zone, Tomlin stood in a restricted area that separates the sideline from the playing field, with his back turned to the action and his right foot squarely in the field of play. Jones fielded the kickoff at the goal line, sprinted untouched along the sideline and had no one else between him and the end zone after running past diving Pittsburgh kicker Shaun Suisham - or so he thought. With the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens ahead 13-7 on a freezing night in Baltimore, Jones believed he was going to immediately answer the Steelers' touchdown in the third quarter with a score of his own. In speaking to the coaches and players involved as well as the stadium's video-board producer, it becomes apparent that everyone's vantage point tells a different story. I really don't think about it too often at this juncture because I have more pressing business.'Įven now, seven years removed, this near-trip inevitably stirs up a spirited debate: Did Tomlin intentionally do it? 'I was watching the JumboTron and lost track of where I was. 'It's just one of those unfortunate moments of life,' Tomlin said this week. Tomlin is enjoying the best regular season of his career, a favorite for NFL Coach of the Year who has led the Steelers to the first 10-0 start in the storied franchise's 88-year history.īut Thursday will shine the spotlight on 10 seconds that cost him a $100,000 fine from the league as well as an immeasurable amount of grief. ET, NBC), and it's their first on this holiday since Tomlin infamously interfered with Jones in a game the Ravens won 22-20. Thursday night marks the 54th meeting between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens (8:20 p.m. 'It's our anniversary,' Tomlin told Jones.įrom Jones' viewpoint, this proved all of his suspicions were right.

On Thanksgiving night 2013, Tomlin veered too far away from the sideline and slowed down Jones, who then played for Baltimore, to turn a would-be kickoff return for a touchdown into one of the league's most controversial incidents. The screen showed the moment that links Jones and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin in NFL lore. Jacoby Jones was in his third week with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015 when he walked into the team meeting Thanksgiving morning and couldn't believe his eyes. NFL, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers

#STEELERS KICKOFF UPGRADE#

© 2023 Cleveland Browns.You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĪ Thanksgiving trip: Revisiting Steelers-Ravens and Mike Tomlin's sideline sidestep in 2013

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