November 18, 2025 • 10 mins
one-game suspension of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase for spitting on Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Jalen Ramsey during a recent game.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the deep Dive. Today. We are strapping in
to unpack a really really charged incident that I think
goes right to the heart of what the NFL considers sportsmanship.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It certainly does. We're talking about Jamar Chase, star receiver
for the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And he was just handed a one game suspension for
allegedly spitting on an opponent, Jalen Ramsey during Sunday's game.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And you know, this is more than just a behavioral issue,
it's a flashpoint. It really reveals the league's evolving disciplinary standards.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
So we've got all the details, We've got the video evidence,
the contradictory statements, the frankly massive financial penalty, right.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
And our mission today is to understand not just what
happened in that moment, but, and this is the crucial part,
why the NFL now treats this particular act spitting as
an automatic, you know, zero tolerance offense, such a huge precedent.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
A very costly one. So let's establish the hard facts
right away. This all happened during Cincinnati's pretty rough thirty
four to twelve loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
And the suspension itself was announced Monday, November seveneeenth, twenty
twenty five. And importantly, it is without.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Pay, which is key. This all started in the heat
of the moment, but it's been amplified what one hundredfold
by postgame video review.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That amplification is everything here. So the incident happens and
it leads to immediate chaos on the field. You've got
video from WXIXTV that showed Chase spitting in Ramsey's.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Direction, which then triggered a really intense physical reaction, and.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
That reaction was severe. I mean, Ramsey immediately threw a
punch at.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Chase and he was gone, instant ejection from the game.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
But here's the first bit of irony for you. Ramsey
gets punished right away for reacting, while Chase, the one
who instigated it, he finished the game.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
And that detail is exactly why the league's later action
matters so much. The referee, Bill Vinovich, he basically said
in the poll report that the officials missed it. They
missed the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
He said, what, we did not see anything that rose
to that level.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
At all, exactly, So Chase's suspension it wasn't based on
an on field call. It was based entirely on video
evidence reviewed by the league office after the clock hit zero.
And when the league office steps in, the consequences they
just escalate traumatically. They go way beyond a typical fine.
We have to talk about the price tag for this, Oh,
we do, because this is how you really measure how
(02:17):
severe the NFL thinks this is.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
For a player like Chase, a one game suspension is
financially devastating. He forfeits his weekly paycheck, which is four
hundred and forty eight, three hundred and.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Thirty three dollars ten that's not all.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Now, on top of that, he loses his per game
active bonus another fifty eight hundred and twenty three dollars.
So all told, you're talking about a loss of five
hundred and seven thousand, one hundred and fifty six.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Dollars half a million dollars for one behavioral act. That's
a staggering amount of money, it is. And what's fascinating
is where that sits in the league's value system. I Mean,
usually you reserve these kinds of forfeitures for you know,
extreme on field violence.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Or helm the helmet his something that could cause serious
physical injury.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Exactly, So by attaching a half million dollar penalty to spitting.
The NFL is essentially treating this act of let's call it,
moral repugnance as just as severe as a physically dangerous play.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
It sends a huge signal that these acts violate the core,
you know, non negotiable principles of the game. It's separate
from physical safety. Now, of course, we know Chase is
appealing this, and for you.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Listening, this isn't some simple courtroom process.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Not at all. When a player appeals, it's not heard
by a federal judge. These behavioral appeals go to one
of three hearing officers, all former players.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Right, so it'll be either Derek Brooks, Ramon Foster, or
Jordan Nelson. They're all jointly appointed by the league and
the players.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Association, and their mandate is very, very narrow. They're not
there to decide if the rule is fair. They're there
to decide if the league applied the rule correctly.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So basically, did the action happen as reported?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Pretty much, to overturn a suspension that's based on clear video,
you have to prove the act was I don't know,
accidental or aimed at the ground, not the opponent. It's
an uphill battle for Chase, and.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That appeal is made even more complicated by the fact
that Chase and Ramsey have completely different stories about what happened.
And there's some history here too, a lot of history.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Chase after the game, he just gave an absolute denial.
He told reporters, I ain't ever opened my mouth to
that guy.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
So he's saying it was just words.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
He's arguing innocence at least when it comes to the spitting.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
But Ramsey's reaction, I mean, it tells a completely different story.
Ramsey was so furious, he said, I don't give an
f about football after that.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Respectfully, he made a very clear distinction. He said he
loves the trash talk, you know, the mental warfare, but
spitting a quote could not be tolerated.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
He even said, as soon as he spit it was like.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
If that, I mean, that frames it as an immediate,
irreparable line being crossed. You just don't do that.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
And this wasn't even the start of their conflict in
that game.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
No, you can't forget what happened before. Ramsey claimed that
earlier Chase actually took his mouthpiece. That sparked the the
first scuffle, which led to offsetting penalties for both of them.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So this was just the escalation, a nasty one. And
this brings us to a really fascinating point. Yeah, because
we have documented history with Chase and mouthpieces. Back in
twenty twenty two, he took Menka Fitzpatrick's.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Mouthpiece right from the Steelers and he was fined for
that fine for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Exactly, a fine, not a suspension. So you have the
physical act of taking someone's equipment that gets a fine,
but the non contact behavioral act of spitting that gets
a suspension. Why the huge difference.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
That difference is exactly where the league is drawing its
moral boundary. I mean, taking a mouthpieces on sportsman like sure,
but it's it's like a physical annoyance.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Property damage basically.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah. Spitting, though, is universally seen as this intentional act
of pure disrespect and disgust. It falls into a category
of actions the league feels diminishes the dignity of the
game itself.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
It's about the message it sends.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
It's entirely about the message. The NFL is igning that
violating that ethical code carries a higher, more immediate penalty
than even some physical stuff that just gets a minor fine.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
So the rule they cited any act which is contrary
to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship. Sping is a
clear violation, no question. But what really makes this a
deep dive and not just a news report is the
precedent this whole thing reinforces.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
That is the aha moman. That's what we need to
focus on, because this isn't just an isolated decision against Chase.
This is the second time this season that the league
has issued a one game suspension for spitting.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Right, if you remember all the way back to Week one,
Jalen Carter of the Eagles spit on Dak.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Prescott before the first snap of the game.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Carter was ejected immediately by the officials, and then the
NFL confirmed it one game suspension.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So the outcome is identical, but the road to get
there was different. Carter was caught live and tossed. Chase
finished the game, then got disciplined based on video.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
That consistency though, yeah, that signals a new, very firm
standard on or at an opponent means a mandatory one
game suspension period and a half million dollar loss. It
doesn't matter if the ref see it live or not.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And that detail about relying solely on video review for
these behavioral things. That's a huge shift in power the
league office. You know, watching HD footage days later is
essentially overruling or I guess, supplementing the judgment of the
officials on the field. And that raises a really important
question for you, the listener. If the officials miss a
(07:29):
sportsmanship violation, which is much harder to spot than a
helmet to helmet hit, and the league comes in days
later with a huge punishment, what does that do to
the authority of the refs on the.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Field and what does it due to player accountability?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Exactly? It means the game never truly ends until all
the film has been reviewed.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So we've covered the cost to chase the precedent from
the league. Now what does this sudden absence cost the Bengals,
especially given where they are right now.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, coach Zach Taylor had a really tricky job on Monday.
He had to walk this very careful tightrope.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
On one hand, he has to condemn.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
It absolutely, he had to strongly admonish the action, saying, obviously,
what happened is crossing the line and we can't have
that he has to uphold the teams standard.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
But then almost in the same breath, he pivoted to
defending his player's character. He stressed that Chase was voted
a team captain this year, that he's shown maturity.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
He even said, I stand by Jamore. I know it's
an emotional situation, so he's protecting his asset while condemning
the behavior. It's a strategic move.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
But the immediate impact on the feels is severe if
the suspension is upheld. Chase missus week twelve, and that
opponent in week twelve is critical.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
They're facing the New England Patriots.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
And to give you some context here, the Bengals have
been struggling, I mean struggling mightily. They've lost seven of
the last eight games. They are desperate.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Meanwhile, the Patriots are well, they're the Patriots. They are rolling.
They're sitting at nine to two, they've won eight straight
and they have the best record in the AFC.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Seing your number one offensive weapon against the best defense
in the conference in what is basically a must win game.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It is devastating strategically, just a costly disruption to their
already strained playoff hopes, and it's Chase's first career suspension
a landmark moment for him, and not in a good way.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So if we pull back and summarize the whole deep
dive here, the NFL has clearly drawn a half million
dollar line in the sand. They've standardized a one game
suspension for what they see as the lowest, most disrespectful
forms of sportsmanship violations. We saw it with Carter, now
we're seeing it with Chase.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
And this is the league flexing its authority based on
video evidence, defining behavior that is just, you know, in intolerable.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
And with that, here is the final provocative thought for
you to consider as this appeal process continues.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
The fact that a history of similar, though lesser conduct
like taking an opponent's mouthpiece now seems to influence the
severity of the final ruling that highlights a maz We
are moving toward a disciplinary structure where minor, cumulative unsportsmanlike
finds could eventually trigger the full force of a suspension.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
So you're saying the league might be building a kind
of behavioral strike count for players.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I think you have to ask the question how many
of those lesser acts have to happen before major suspension
becomes mandatory. It suggests that past finds are not simply forgotten.
They become context for future much more severe punishment
Welcome to the deep Dive. Today. We are strapping in
to unpack a really really charged incident that I think
goes right to the heart of what the NFL considers sportsmanship.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It certainly does. We're talking about Jamar Chase, star receiver
for the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And he was just handed a one game suspension for
allegedly spitting on an opponent, Jalen Ramsey during Sunday's game.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And you know, this is more than just a behavioral issue,
it's a flashpoint. It really reveals the league's evolving disciplinary standards.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
So we've got all the details, We've got the video evidence,
the contradictory statements, the frankly massive financial penalty, right.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
And our mission today is to understand not just what
happened in that moment, but, and this is the crucial part,
why the NFL now treats this particular act spitting as
an automatic, you know, zero tolerance offense, such a huge precedent.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
A very costly one. So let's establish the hard facts
right away. This all happened during Cincinnati's pretty rough thirty
four to twelve loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
And the suspension itself was announced Monday, November seveneeenth, twenty
twenty five. And importantly, it is without.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Pay, which is key. This all started in the heat
of the moment, but it's been amplified what one hundredfold
by postgame video review.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That amplification is everything here. So the incident happens and
it leads to immediate chaos on the field. You've got
video from WXIXTV that showed Chase spitting in Ramsey's.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Direction, which then triggered a really intense physical reaction, and.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
That reaction was severe. I mean, Ramsey immediately threw a
punch at.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Chase and he was gone, instant ejection from the game.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
But here's the first bit of irony for you. Ramsey
gets punished right away for reacting, while Chase, the one
who instigated it, he finished the game.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
And that detail is exactly why the league's later action
matters so much. The referee, Bill Vinovich, he basically said
in the poll report that the officials missed it. They
missed the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
He said, what, we did not see anything that rose
to that level.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
At all, exactly, So Chase's suspension it wasn't based on
an on field call. It was based entirely on video
evidence reviewed by the league office after the clock hit zero.
And when the league office steps in, the consequences they
just escalate traumatically. They go way beyond a typical fine.
We have to talk about the price tag for this, Oh,
we do, because this is how you really measure how
(02:17):
severe the NFL thinks this is.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
For a player like Chase, a one game suspension is
financially devastating. He forfeits his weekly paycheck, which is four
hundred and forty eight, three hundred and.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Thirty three dollars ten that's not all.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Now, on top of that, he loses his per game
active bonus another fifty eight hundred and twenty three dollars.
So all told, you're talking about a loss of five
hundred and seven thousand, one hundred and fifty six.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Dollars half a million dollars for one behavioral act. That's
a staggering amount of money, it is. And what's fascinating
is where that sits in the league's value system. I Mean,
usually you reserve these kinds of forfeitures for you know,
extreme on field violence.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Or helm the helmet his something that could cause serious
physical injury.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Exactly, So by attaching a half million dollar penalty to spitting.
The NFL is essentially treating this act of let's call it,
moral repugnance as just as severe as a physically dangerous play.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
It sends a huge signal that these acts violate the core,
you know, non negotiable principles of the game. It's separate
from physical safety. Now, of course, we know Chase is
appealing this, and for you.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Listening, this isn't some simple courtroom process.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Not at all. When a player appeals, it's not heard
by a federal judge. These behavioral appeals go to one
of three hearing officers, all former players.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Right, so it'll be either Derek Brooks, Ramon Foster, or
Jordan Nelson. They're all jointly appointed by the league and
the players.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Association, and their mandate is very, very narrow. They're not
there to decide if the rule is fair. They're there
to decide if the league applied the rule correctly.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So basically, did the action happen as reported?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Pretty much, to overturn a suspension that's based on clear video,
you have to prove the act was I don't know,
accidental or aimed at the ground, not the opponent. It's
an uphill battle for Chase, and.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That appeal is made even more complicated by the fact
that Chase and Ramsey have completely different stories about what happened.
And there's some history here too, a lot of history.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Chase after the game, he just gave an absolute denial.
He told reporters, I ain't ever opened my mouth to
that guy.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
So he's saying it was just words.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
He's arguing innocence at least when it comes to the spitting.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
But Ramsey's reaction, I mean, it tells a completely different story.
Ramsey was so furious, he said, I don't give an
f about football after that.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Respectfully, he made a very clear distinction. He said he
loves the trash talk, you know, the mental warfare, but
spitting a quote could not be tolerated.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
He even said, as soon as he spit it was like.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
If that, I mean, that frames it as an immediate,
irreparable line being crossed. You just don't do that.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
And this wasn't even the start of their conflict in
that game.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
No, you can't forget what happened before. Ramsey claimed that
earlier Chase actually took his mouthpiece. That sparked the the
first scuffle, which led to offsetting penalties for both of them.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So this was just the escalation, a nasty one. And
this brings us to a really fascinating point. Yeah, because
we have documented history with Chase and mouthpieces. Back in
twenty twenty two, he took Menka Fitzpatrick's.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Mouthpiece right from the Steelers and he was fined for
that fine for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Exactly, a fine, not a suspension. So you have the
physical act of taking someone's equipment that gets a fine,
but the non contact behavioral act of spitting that gets
a suspension. Why the huge difference.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
That difference is exactly where the league is drawing its
moral boundary. I mean, taking a mouthpieces on sportsman like sure,
but it's it's like a physical annoyance.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Property damage basically.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah. Spitting, though, is universally seen as this intentional act
of pure disrespect and disgust. It falls into a category
of actions the league feels diminishes the dignity of the
game itself.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
It's about the message it sends.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
It's entirely about the message. The NFL is igning that
violating that ethical code carries a higher, more immediate penalty
than even some physical stuff that just gets a minor fine.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
So the rule they cited any act which is contrary
to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship. Sping is a
clear violation, no question. But what really makes this a
deep dive and not just a news report is the
precedent this whole thing reinforces.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
That is the aha moman. That's what we need to
focus on, because this isn't just an isolated decision against Chase.
This is the second time this season that the league
has issued a one game suspension for spitting.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Right, if you remember all the way back to Week one,
Jalen Carter of the Eagles spit on Dak.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Prescott before the first snap of the game.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Carter was ejected immediately by the officials, and then the
NFL confirmed it one game suspension.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So the outcome is identical, but the road to get
there was different. Carter was caught live and tossed. Chase
finished the game, then got disciplined based on video.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
That consistency though, yeah, that signals a new, very firm
standard on or at an opponent means a mandatory one
game suspension period and a half million dollar loss. It
doesn't matter if the ref see it live or not.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And that detail about relying solely on video review for
these behavioral things. That's a huge shift in power the
league office. You know, watching HD footage days later is
essentially overruling or I guess, supplementing the judgment of the
officials on the field. And that raises a really important
question for you, the listener. If the officials miss a
(07:29):
sportsmanship violation, which is much harder to spot than a
helmet to helmet hit, and the league comes in days
later with a huge punishment, what does that do to
the authority of the refs on the.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Field and what does it due to player accountability?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Exactly? It means the game never truly ends until all
the film has been reviewed.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So we've covered the cost to chase the precedent from
the league. Now what does this sudden absence cost the Bengals,
especially given where they are right now.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, coach Zach Taylor had a really tricky job on Monday.
He had to walk this very careful tightrope.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
On one hand, he has to condemn.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
It absolutely, he had to strongly admonish the action, saying, obviously,
what happened is crossing the line and we can't have
that he has to uphold the teams standard.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
But then almost in the same breath, he pivoted to
defending his player's character. He stressed that Chase was voted
a team captain this year, that he's shown maturity.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
He even said, I stand by Jamore. I know it's
an emotional situation, so he's protecting his asset while condemning
the behavior. It's a strategic move.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
But the immediate impact on the feels is severe if
the suspension is upheld. Chase missus week twelve, and that
opponent in week twelve is critical.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
They're facing the New England Patriots.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
And to give you some context here, the Bengals have
been struggling, I mean struggling mightily. They've lost seven of
the last eight games. They are desperate.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Meanwhile, the Patriots are well, they're the Patriots. They are rolling.
They're sitting at nine to two, they've won eight straight
and they have the best record in the AFC.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Seing your number one offensive weapon against the best defense
in the conference in what is basically a must win game.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It is devastating strategically, just a costly disruption to their
already strained playoff hopes, and it's Chase's first career suspension
a landmark moment for him, and not in a good way.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So if we pull back and summarize the whole deep
dive here, the NFL has clearly drawn a half million
dollar line in the sand. They've standardized a one game
suspension for what they see as the lowest, most disrespectful
forms of sportsmanship violations. We saw it with Carter, now
we're seeing it with Chase.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
And this is the league flexing its authority based on
video evidence, defining behavior that is just, you know, in intolerable.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
And with that, here is the final provocative thought for
you to consider as this appeal process continues.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
The fact that a history of similar, though lesser conduct
like taking an opponent's mouthpiece now seems to influence the
severity of the final ruling that highlights a maz We
are moving toward a disciplinary structure where minor, cumulative unsportsmanlike
finds could eventually trigger the full force of a suspension.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
So you're saying the league might be building a kind
of behavioral strike count for players.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I think you have to ask the question how many
of those lesser acts have to happen before major suspension
becomes mandatory. It suggests that past finds are not simply forgotten.
They become context for future much more severe punishment
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