Steelers’ Diontae Johnson fined $25,000 for claiming referees should be ‘PAID’ in loss to Jacksonville

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson has been fined $25,000 for berating referees following their recent loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 29, per ESPN.

Johnson, 27, was not on the list of fines in the weekly matchday accountability report released Saturday. However, ProFootballTalk.com reported that he was added after he questioned the integrity of the officials following the 20-10 loss to the Jaguars.

“I didn’t like the referees that much today,” he said after the match. ‘They must have gotten paid well today or something… they were shouting stupid things.

“They wanted (the Jaguars) to win… everything was in their favor. They got every little phone call.

“They should be fined for making bad calls, making worse, terrible calls and things like that. That’s how I am. They cost us the game. I don’t care what no one says. They cost us the game.”

Johnson was particularly upset about the inconsistency in handling passerby calls.

Pittsburgh safety Keanu Neal was called for roughing the passer after taking a hit on Trevor Lawrence early in the first quarter. However, Jacksonville defensive end Adam Gotsis was not flagged for a hit that led to Steelers quarterback Kenny Picket going out in the second half with a rib injury.

Gotsis was later fined $7,167, while Neal was not fined for his hit on Lawrence. Steelers linebacker TJ Watt was also fined $16,391 for a hit on Lawrence in the first quarter that went unmarked during the game.

Officials also flagged an offside call on Pittsburgh right tackle Isaac Seumalo that would have reduced the Jaguars’ lead at the half. The officials blew the whistle on Seumalo, who lined up in the neutral zone and canceled out a 55-yard field goal by Chris Boswell.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin later said he had never seen that kind of offside in his 17-year career.

“The refs were killing us the whole game,” Johnson said. “The same referees we had at training camp. I didn’t like the referees that much today.

‘Ultimately we can’t keep complaining about the referees. Like Coach says, we can’t worry about the refs, anything. But everyone is different.’

Both NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson and referee Alan Eck have since commented on the call.

“Whether players are called for offside, that’s the judgment made on the field,” Anderson said.

“It was a judgement,” Eck said. “It was obvious on the field, so we called it.”