Pittsburgh Steelers won't file complaint over headset snafu

The Pittsburgh Steelers have decided not to file a complaint with the NFL after their coaches complained on the sideline about hearing the New England Patriots' radio broadcast in their headsets during the first quarter of Thursday night's season opener.

After the Patriots' 28-21 win in Foxborough, Mass., Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin was not happy about there being any controversy in a game at New England, saying, "That's always the case. Yes. I said what I said."

"We have provided information to NFL representatives regarding issues that occurred Thursday night at Gillette Stadium with our coach-to-coach headset communications system," Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten said in a statement. "The problem was addressed during the game and we did not have further problems in the second half. We did not file a formal complaint, nor do we plan to do so."

The NFL said Friday in a statement that the Patriots were not responsible for the problems, attributing the issues to "an electrical issue made worse by the inclement weather."

The Patriots said their communications also were interfered with during the game.

"We had a lot of problems. We had to switch headphones a couple of times," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "The communication system wasn't very good. We deal with that, it seems, weekly."

NBC Sports reported that Patriots coaches had to turn off their headsets according to NFL rules until the Steelers' headsets were working properly again.

The headset dilemma follows an offseason filled with controversy surrounding the Patriots over deflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game in January against the Indianapolis Colts and allegations of spying in previous seasons.

The NFL called the headset issue an intermittent reception problem and said it was solved by the second quarter. League director of football operations Blake Jones went down to the field to help.

The NFL released a statement earlier Friday explaining that coaches' communications equipment, including the headsets, is provided by the NFL for both teams' use on game day, but that the home team "is responsible for the installation and maintenance of that equipment."

"Every team's game-day communications personnel are required to work with the NFL communications consultants to ensure wireless equipment is free and clear of interference and address any problems," said Michael Signora, the league's vice president of football communications. "Technological and stadium infrastructure issues of this type happen at many stadiums around the league, and whenever there are issues of this nature, we do a thorough review."