Steelers say coach James Daniel did not kick Patriots fan; Pats cleared of headset issue

The first Patriots game of the 2015 season featured plenty of off-field drama last Thursday night as the NFL was, throughout the weekend, looking into both an incident in which a Patriots fan was allegedly kicked by a Steelers assistant coach as well as a well-publicized headset issue.

The Steelers denied that tight end coach James Daniel kicked a Patriots fan in the back of the leg and screamed at him while walking to the visitors’ locker room at Gillette Stadium at halftime of last Thursday’s game.

“We have conducted an internal inquiry into the alleged incident involving assistant coach James Daniel at the Patriots stadium Thursday night,” Pittsburgh president Art Rooney II said in a statement on Sunday. “After interviews with Coach Daniel as well as other personnel who witnessed the alleged encounter, we find no corroboration that Coach Daniel was involved in any physical altercation with a fan.”

Daniel also was said to have shouted at a police officer who questioned him about the incident with the fan, witnesses told ESPN.

As for the Steelers’ complaint that the Patriots’ radio broadcast was being piped into their headsets during the first quarter of Thursday’s game, the NFL has cleared the Patriots of any wrongdoing.

“[It] involved no manipulation by any individual and the Patriots had nothing to do with it,” said league spokesman Michael Signora. “[It was] entirely attributable to an electrical issue made worse by inclement weather.”