Buccaneers Center Joe Hawley Says Seahawks Defender Spit in His Face During Game

Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Joe Hawley said Thursday night a member of the Seattle Seahawks defense spit in his face during last Sunday's game. 

Hawley made the allegation during an appearance with Tom Krasniqi on 620 WDAE. On Friday, JoeBucsFan.com passed along the center's comments about the situation:

"

They were hitting me late and then one guy got up, and when I came up all fired up, he actually spit in my face after one of the plays. And that really got me fired up because I just don't think that should be a part of the game at all. I mean, it's one thing thing pushing, shouting, yelling, but as soon as he spit in my face, I was pretty fired up about that. It's disgusting.

"

Jenna Laine of ESPN.com noted the 28-year-old veteran stated he wasn't exactly sure who committed the act in the Bucs' 14-5 victory. Hawley replied, "Yeah, I think that's who it was," when the name of Seahawks rookie defensive tackle Jarran Reed was mentioned, though.

The Tampa Bay lineman didn't provide any additional details about exactly when the alleged spitting occurred during the Week 12 contest.

On Sunday, Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk spotlighted a second-quarter fracas between the teams, which included pushing and shoving between the Bucs offense and the Seahawks defense. Reed and Tampa guard Ali Marpet were mentioned, but not Hawley.

Although it was a pretty physical game with plenty of chippy plays by both sides, only nine total penalties were called. Seven of those were called against the Buccaneers for 68 yards. Seattle had two calls go against it for 27 yards.

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times pointed out Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman was among those to discuss the officials' laissez-faire attitude after his game-long battle with receiver Mike Evans.

"Well you know, he grabbed my jersey early and pulled me down," Sherman said. "I thought maybe you get that call and then I thought maybe a push-off at the end and you get that call. But it's the league, and they're not going to call that."

That said, spitting in somebody's face would be a far more serious offense than a potential missed call on offensive pass interference. It wasn't immediately clear whether the league was alerted about the situation or if it planned to look into it.