Trent Williams' accusations that official Roy Ellison directly referred to him as a “garbage-(expletive), disrespectful mother (expletive) appears to have some evidence to back up his claims.
It's not just teammates Robert Griffin III and left guard Kory Lichtensteiger backed up Williams' claims. Former NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira revealed that there had been similar incidents involving Ellison in the past during an appearance on Monday's FOX Football Daily.
Via SI.com:
“What concerns me about this is I sat in the same chair that Dean Blandino, the Vice President of Officiating, is sitting in right now, with the same official, Roy Ellison, who years ago allegedly shouted and swore at players, and it was a big issue that I had to deal with,” Pereira said (via Pro Football Talk). “I actually had to talk with him in the office to make sure that none of this was going on. So the fact that it has happened twice now with the same individual has to concern the league, and I know they are taking a strong look at this.”
Pereira said that because there was no audio of the previous profanity, no action was taken against Ellison.
“When I had to deal with it, there was no proof, so it was a he said, she said. But something happened. And we did have a long conversation, Roy and I did, that we should never act like this as a football official on the field. And I said to him, ‘I don’t ever want to hear about this again.’”
Washington D.C. Fox 5 sports anchor Lindsay Murphy identified the moment that appears to show RGIII, Niles Paul and Williams staring at Ellison during his alleged expetive-filled diatribe. The play occurs with 3:51 left in the first half after an Albert Morris fumblde was overturned upon booth review.
“To me, this is a players’ league,” Williams told the media after game. “I just don’t think there’s no room for you to have to take that from the team and the refs. I think it’s very unprofessional. It sucks. I don’t know what else — I’m at a loss for words. You never expect that, as a player, going into the game to have to beef with the refs also.”
Williams was fairly calm despite the officials' alleged behavior, but Richard Sherman's jaw is a reminder that the Redskins left tackle is not one to be riling up.
