NFL SUSPENDS TWO REFS FOR CUSSING AT PLAYERS

Line judge Jeff Seeman got two games for appearing to say "f--- you" twice to Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, whose crime was asking where the pass interference flag was on a third-down incompletion. CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala said McBride was heated but never cursed at the official. The tight end held it together. The guy with the whistle did not. Referee Adrian Hill got one game out of Vikings-Dolphins. Ollie Gordon II shoved Eric Wilson into Hill, Hill went to the turf, and Wilson put a hand down to help him up. Hill waved off the help, stood up on his own power, and started yelling at Wilson to get back to his huddle. Wilson was not even penalized on the play. Both bans came from VP of officiating Ramon George, and they are rare. The league had gone eight years without suspending an official, and Seeman's two games is the longest for an official since 1988. The NFL Referees Association calls the discipline "excessive and inconsistent with past precedent" and is challenging the severity, with executive director Scott Green pointing out that officials absorb verbal abuse from players and coaches every week. NFLPA boss JC Tretter's answer is shorter: players get punished when the roles are reversed, so hold the refs to the same standard.

Why you should give a shit: There is about to be a formal labor fight over whether "f--- you" is a two-game offense.