Maintaining composure under extreme pressure is a fundamental requirement for NFL game officials. On Monday, the league made it clear that losing that composure can carry consequences of its own, coming down hard on two of its officials over separate incidents of unprofessional conduct during Sunday’s games.

Line judge Jeff Seeman was suspended for two games, while referee Adrian Hill received a one-game suspension. Both penalties were issued by NFL Vice President of Officiating Ramon George.

Seeman’s incident came during Arizona Cardinals‘ 36-24 loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. With under five minutes left in the fourth quarter and Arizona trailing 27-24, Cardinals tight end Trey McBride went up for a pass from Jacoby Brissett on third-and-2 and came down without a flag, despite contact from Giants cornerback Andru Phillips before the ball arrived. McBride pressed Seeman on the no-call, and CBS broadcast cameras caught Seeman’s response on camera, appearing to tell McBride “f*** you” twice along the sideline.

CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala, who was standing nearby, said the exchange didn’t start anywhere near as heated as it ended.

“He was heated for sure, but I never heard a curse from him,” Kinkhabwala said of McBride.

The clip spread quickly, and NFLPA executive director J.C. Tretter posted the video Sunday night along with a statement demanding officials face the same consequences players do.

“This kind of behavior from an official towards a player is unacceptable,” Tretter wrote.

Hill’s incident unfolded very differently, though it drew the league’s attention all the same. During Minnesota‘s 15-10 win over Miami, Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson was shoved by Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II midway through the first quarter, after a third-and-10 play was whistled dead on a Minnesota penalty.

Gordon pushed Wilson away from QB Malik Willis and crashed with Hill, knocking the official to the turf. As Wilson moved to help him up, Hill jumped to his feet, pointing and yelling at Wilson to back away.

Wilson didn’t take it personally.

“That was funny, honestly,” Wilson told reporters afterward, adding that he had apologized to Hill and the two had squared things away on the spot.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said he hadn’t gotten a clean look at the collision live, but stood behind Hill’s reputation regardless.

“I think Adrian’s a really good official and does a really good job,” O’Connell said Monday.

When Was the Last Time Officials Were Punished by NFL?

Suspensions like these are rarely handed down in the first place, let alone two in the same week.

The last suspension was eight years ago when umpire Roy Ellison, who was placed on administrative leave and docked a game check in December 2018 after a confrontation with a Bills player. Ellison had also been suspended once before, in 2013, for using profanity toward a player.

Before that, side judge Rob Vernatchi was suspended in 2015 for a game-clock error that let an 18-second runoff go unnoticed in a Steelers-Chargers game.

The last time multiple officials were suspended in the same season was 58 years ago, in 1968, when six officials lost track of downs at the end of a Bears-Rams game and were suspended one game apiece, plus ruled ineligible for that postseason.

Sunday’s two incidents landed at opposite ends of the seriousness scale. One was a verbal shot at a player who had done nothing wrong, the other a reflexive reaction to getting knocked down in the middle of a play. But the league’s willingness to discipline both in the same announcement sends a clear signal.

With player conduct toward officials already policed closely through fines and ejections, Monday’s suspensions put the NFL on record that the standard now runs in both directions, exactly the parity Tretter was pushing for less than 24 hours earlier.