NFL Referee Obscenity Fine For Cursing Before Live Audience [Video]

An NFL referee has been issued a fine for using an obscenity, cursing before a live television audience at the Dolphins-Colts game this past November 4th. As The Inquisitr originally reported, Tony Corrente was caught uttering some obscenities with his microphone at a conference of officials after a penalty with 5:22 left in the game.

Tony Corrente is a well-seasoned referee with 18 seasons under his belt. Corrente had inadvertently left his microphone turned on during a conference with members of the officiating crew. Because of this mistake, Corrente did not realize the crowd and the CBS television audience would hear his cursing.

The NFL has officially responded by fining the NFL referee Tony Corrente for one game, as reported by MYNorthwest.com. The fine was issued Friday by NFL officiating director Carl Johnson. This obscenity fine will cost referee Tony Corrente approximately $9,000 since he will only be missing one game.

Johnson says the conduct “is inappropriate for a game official” and Corrente has already issued an official apology to the NFL Colts team. It is considered rare for the NFL league to disclose discipline for game officials like referees. One incident is described by MYNorthwest.com:

“One other recent case was in 2007 when umpire Jim Quirk pulled down Green Bay linebacker Nick Barnett down from behind in a choke hold during a skirmish in a game at Soldier Field in Chicago. Quirk also lost a game check, worth $8,150, for ‘inappropriate physical contact with players.’ Quirk was involved in a similar incident with Falcons running back Jason Snelling on a kickoff return in an Atlanta-Tampa Bay game that year. And Quirk brought down Arizona’s Elton Brown in a similar fashion earlier that season.”

What do you think about the NFL referee obscenity fine? Is the NFL being too harsh or too lenient?