Referee Smacks Tee Higgins, Says 'Sorry About That' On Mic ForthMGN

It’s always fun when we get a random moment caught on a referee’s micorphone and that happened Sunday night. Late in the first half of the Cincinnati Bengals’ matchup with the Buffalo Bills, referee Alex Kemp accidentally smack Bengals wideout Tee Higgins and quickly apologized on an open mic.

The incident came with 6:38 remaining in the half. The Bengals faced third-and-15 at Buffalo’s 37-yard line. Quarterback Joe Burrow hit Trent Irwin for an eight-yard gain, but Buffalo’s Leonard Floyd had jumped offside. As Kemp tried to signal the penalty, Higgins walked relatively close to him and his outstretched hand hit the wideout in the shoulder pad, then facemask. In the middle of announcing the penalty he stopped to say, “Sorry about that.”

Check it out:

You can tell he really feels badly, but also that’s embarrassing. If I’ve learned one thing from Sterling Archer it’s that you have to have elite situational awareness if you’re going to succeed in the spy game. I’m just assuming that applies to NFL referees as well.