PITTSBURGH -- Unfortunately for the officials, it was open mic night at Heinz Field.
After the Pittsburgh Steelers scored their first touchdown in Saturday's 23-7 preseason victory over the Detroit Lions, referee Jeff Triplette's field microphone picked up expletives uttered by him or one of his crew members apparently aimed at the replay official.
Unhappy that a review of Steelers quarterback Dennis Dixon's 5-yard run was ordered during a heavy rainstorm, an official was clearly heard saying, "It's raining like this, I'll kick his ... " followed by several expletives.
The official then added, "He's trying to get to the Super Bowl already."
The call was overturned.
The comments could be heard by spectators, although many already had abandoned their seats during a storm that caused a delay of 1 hour, 13 minutes.
The replay official's name was omitted on the game statistics.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
