Witten calls stricter roughing the passer penalties 'left wing'

ESPN analyst Jason Witten referred to the stricter rules against roughing the passer this season as "left wing" during the Pittsburgh Steelers-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Monday Night Football.

"I knew they wanted to make it about the health and safety and protect these quarterbacks but it just seems like we went a little bit too left wing on that with our approach of trying to protect it," Witten commented in the third quarter.

ESPN later told Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr that Witten's comment "had nothing to do with politics." Many NFL owners and fans have lashed out at players in recent times for making political statements during games.

Officials have thrown more flags this year for contact against quarterbacks that in the past was deemed incidental or harmless.

Witten, 36, enjoyed a marvelous 15-year career with the Dallas Cowboys before transitioning into broadcasting.