Furthermore, the league said, the Steelers are subject to "a modification or forfeiture of draft choices ... after the final order of the 2014 draft has been determined.''
The last time the NFL took picks away from a team was when the New Orleans Saints lost second-round picks in 2012 and '13 because of the Bounty-gate ruling.
On Jacoby Jones' third-quarter kickoff return, the NFL said, Tomlin was in the restricted white area beyond the sideline and "stepped foot onto the playing field during the play," in violation of NFL rule 13, section 1, article 4.
"As I stated yesterday, I take full responsibility for my actions, and I apologize for causing negative attention to the Pittsburgh Steelers organization,'' Tomlin said in a statement released through the Steelers. "I accept the penalty that I received. I will no longer address this issue as I am preparing for an important game this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins."
The Tomlin punishment was handed down by NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson.
The announcement also officially acknowledged that Tomlin should have been penalized by game officials for unsportsmanlike conduct. On Tuesday night, league vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told the
NFL Network that officials "should have flagged Tomlin" and that the mistake "has been addressed with our staff."
RG3, MOSS TAKE DIFFERENT TONES
Given a chance to endorse Mike Shanahan to return as coach of the Washington Redskins, Santana Moss and Robert Griffin III took very different approaches.
Veteran receiver Moss gave a solid vote of confidence to the coach who has a 24-36 regular season record near the end of the fourth year of a five-year contract, while the young franchise quarterback's response was hardly campaign-speech material.
"The grass ain't always greener," Moss said Wednesday. "I've always lived by that, learned from my father. At the end of the day, this is RG's second year, and it wasn't the second year that (any) of us hoped for. He had to deal with an offseason of just rehabbing and getting himself back, so you almost automatically got to feel that you have to give him another chance to really show that this offense can be ran the way it should be under him and these coaches."
Griffin's answer was more circumspect.
"Everyone's going to have an opinion," Griffin said. "And it's an outside opinion. ... Whenever you have a year like we're having, sitting at 3-9, we had higher hopes and higher expectations, people are going to try to sink the ship and our job is not to focus on that stuff."
Pressed specifically for his opinion about the coaching staff and the future, Griffin replied: "I think these guys have a great future, and I love having them here, and that's all I can say."
The difference could be attributed to a savvy 34-year-old knowing better than an upstart 23-year-old the best way to deal with potentially tricky questions, but Griffin's answer led to more questions, along the lines of
"How would you describe your relationship with the coaches?"
"Whenever you have competitors like us, losing can be tough," Griffin answered. "But at the end of the day, just like when I came in here, me, Coach, (offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan) and all the rest of the coaches and all the rest of the players, we all want to win and that's a winning recipe, whether you do it on the field or not. So that's the way I look at it. We're all competitors. We all get heated at times, but at the end of the day, we all want to win."
BROWNS’ BRYANT HAVING SURGERY
Browns defensive end Desmond Bryant will undergo a surgical procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat and miss the remainder of the season.
The Browns said Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract in March, reported symptoms Monday. He was taken out of an Oct. 3 game against Buffalo and was briefly hospitalized at The Cleveland Clinic with an irregular heartbeat.
Bryant will undergo the procedure this week, the team said.
The 27-year-old started all 12 games this season and made 45 tackles and 3 1-2 sacks.
The Browns placed him on the reserve/non-football illness list. Bryant played the last four seasons with Oakland before signing with the Browns as a free agent.
Bryant was not on the practice field Wednesday and the team only disclosed his injury following the workout.
STADIUM DEATH RULED A HOMICIDE
The death of a Missouri man in an Arrowhead Stadium parking lot during Kansas City's game this weekend was ruled a homicide Wednesday, but police said it could still take weeks before they know what killed him.
Kyle Van Winkle, 30, of Smithville, was unconscious on the ground when police responded to a disturbance call around 5:20 p.m. in Lot A at Truman Sports Complex, where Arrowhead is located.
In announcing the Jackson County medical examiner's ruling Wednesday, police spokesman Darin Snapp said that wouldn't change how the case is being handled.
"Detectives have been working the case as a homicide from the beginning, so the investigation will not change," he said.
Van Winkle, the son of a police sergeant, apparently left the stadium early in the game and went to the parking lot, where he got into a Jeep that looked like the vehicle he came to the game in, Kansas City police spokesman Tye Grant said.
The Jeep's owner found Van Winkle, which led to an argument. People tailgating nearby then came over and began fighting with Van Winkle, he said.
Dean Van Winkle told The Kansas City Star on Tuesday that his son left his seat to go to the restroom but never came back. He said Kyle didn't appear to be intoxicated or ill when he left.
"He collapsed during the struggle and was found to be not breathing," Grant said. "That's when a person at the scene began doing CPR on him."
Van Winkle was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
It could be four to six weeks before the medical examiner determines the cause of death, police said.
Contributors: Rana L. Cash, David Steele
