Bears' Cassius Marsh Talks Controversial Taunting Penalty, Being Bumped by Referee

The Chicago Bears' Cassius Marsh questioned the contact made by referee Tony Corrente after the linebacker was penalized for taunting on Monday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"On my way to the sideline, I got hip-checked by the ref. It's pretty clear," Marsh told reporters after the Bears' 29-27 loss. "If I was to do that to a ref or even touch a ref, we get kicked out of the game and possibly suspended and fined. I just think that that was incredibly inappropriate."

The 29-year-old UCLA product also believed the taunting call was a mistake.

"I think that one was just bad timing. It's pretty clear to everybody who saw it that I wasn't taunting," Marsh said. "I've been doing the celebration my whole career. It's just sad to see stuff like that happen in a close game like that."

Corrente provided his version of events during an interview with pool reporter Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago:

The moment in question came late in the fourth quarter after Marsh sacked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and put Pittsburgh in a situation where it would have had to punt the ball with a 23-20 lead and just under four minutes left.

Instead, the Steelers took advantage of the 15-yard taunting call to get in field goal range to extend their lead to six.

The Bears scored a quick touchdown to take the lead, 27-26, but Pittsburgh responded with another field goal to regain the advantage as part of a chaotic final few minutes.

Chicago had one last chance to complete the comeback, but kicker Cairo Santos came up short on a 65-yard attempt to clinch the win.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy didn't directly comment on the crucial call against Marsh but pointed to the team's high number of penalties as a reason for the loss.

"With 12 penalties, that's too many," Nagy said. "What it does is it pushes you back or gives them free yards. You want to stay away from penalties and I think we need to be better there."

Chicago (3-6) was penalized for 115 yards, while Pittsburgh (5-3) recorded five penalties for 30 yards.

Marsh explained he was trying to avoid going too far with his public criticism of the referee despite the questionable nature of the call.

"I don't want to say too much because you all know how it is," the linebacker said, referring to the NFL fining players for public criticism of the officiating.

It's unclear whether Corrente could face any discipline for his contact with Marsh.