The NFL always holds players from the Minnesota Vikings and around the league accountable. On Monday, the league also held its officials accountable.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, along with the other major league insiders, reported on X on Monday afternoon the league suspended two officials because of inappropriate behavior toward players during Week 4 on Sunday.
Referee Adrian Hill was the most prominent official to receive a suspension. He will serve a 1-game ban for what Schefter wrote the league described as “unprofessional conduct.”
Line judge Jeff Seeman, who worked the Arizona Cardinals-New York Giants matchup in New Jersey on Sunday, also received a suspension — two games in length.
“The NFL confirmed today that line judge Jeff Seeman has been suspended two games and referee Adrian Hill has been suspended for one game, each for an instance of unprofessional conduct toward a player in Sunday’s Arizona-New York Giants (Seeman) and Miami-Minnesota games (Hill),” wrote Schefter. “The suspensions were issued by NFL Vice President of Officiating Ramon George.”
What Happened Between Vikings’ Eric Wilson and NFL Referee Adrian Hill
In the first half of the Vikings-Dolphins Week 4 matchup, Wilson collided with Hill accidentally. Video replay revealed a Dolphins player pushed Wilson into Hill, which caused the official to fall down.
The Vikings linebacker attempted to help Hill up off the ground. But Hill immediately got up himself and then started yelling at Wilson and pointing in the other direction.
Schefter and other insiders posted video of the incident on social media Sunday evening.
The incident caused quite a stir on social media, especially after what also happened in the Cardinals-Giants game earlier Sunday.
Video from the CBS Sports broadcast of the contest caught Seeman yelling obscenities toward Cardinals tight end Trey McBride. CBS Sports sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala described that incident in detail with the video included on X.
“I was standing right there. What’s wild is that it all started with Trey McBride saying ‘please’ when pleading his case for a PI flag,” wrote Kinkhabwala. “He was heated for sure, but I never heard a curse from him.
“The harshest he got was, ‘You’re ruining the game.'”
Executive Director of the NFL Players Association JC Tretter released a statement on X in response to the incident with Seeman. Tretter also included the same video evidence as Kinkhabwala.
“This kind of behavior from an official towards a player is unacceptable,” wrote Tretter. “Players are consistently held accountable when the roles are reversed.
“We expect the NFL to hold officials to the same standard.”
To the league’s credit, it did. As a line judge, Seeman isn’t in the public eye very much, but he won’t be on the sideline for the next two weeks.
Additionally, Hill won’t be leading his officiating crew during Week 5.
Wilson Addressed Incident With Hill
It is doubtful McBride and Seeman exchange Christmas cards this winter. But according to Wilson, he made up with Hill on Sunday.
The Vikings linebacker told reporters after the game he addressed the incident with Hill.
“That was funny, honestly,” said Wilson, via VikingzFanPage. “I ended up apologizing to him and explaining the situation. He was cool about it; he understood what was happening.
“He said he was just trying to get me like, he didn’t want us fighting apparently. Me and the Dolphins guy, so he was just trying to break us up.”
Based on the replay, it’s rather apparent no fight was about to break out. It was a pretty standard football play besides Hill getting knocked down.
Clearly, Hill overreacted to a situation he didn’t fully understand in the moment.
NFL Referee Receives Suspension After Confrontation With Vikings’ Eric Wilson