PFWA Pool Reporter Brian Batko Interview with Referee Bill Vinovich
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday, November 16, 2025
Question: I guess we’ll just start with the first incident that resulted in the offsetting penalties. What did you and your crew see in that first part of the scuffle between those two (Pittsburgh’s Jalen Ramsey and Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase)?
Bill Vinovich: “That’s exactly it. There was a scuffle between the two. We had been dealing with it all day and then it kind of escalated. They were both grabbing each other’s facemasks.”
Question: From there, when the disqualification was issued, what did you observe then at that point as it continued on?
Vinovich: “Number five for Pittsburgh punched number one from Cincinnati.”
Question: Number five from Pittsburgh said that one from Cincinnati spit at him and that’s why he lost his cool and punched. Did anybody see that during, after or anything like that?
Vinovich: “No. Obviously, we did not. We did not see anything that rose to that level at all.”
