As it turns out, Mike McCarthy was not ready for his close up, Mr. DeMille.
The Dallas head coach had a weekend to forget. The Cowboys dropped their divisional round matchup against the 49ers, 19-12. He became the laughingstock of NFL media for a confusing final play, and an equally dissatisfying explanation of it. Oh, and he may have shoved a guy.
In the aftermath of the Cowboys divisional loss to the 49ers, an image of the Cowboys coach pushing a cameraman hit the internet. The photo seemed like McCarthy was being a bit of an aggressor, with some displeased with the way he handled himself in the situation.
Mike McCarthy wasn’t in the mood 💀 @brgridiron pic.twitter.com/Dn3ZNmaUgY
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 23, 2023
MORE: Will the Cowboys fire Mike McCarthy?
As it turns out, it wasn’t all that bad. The cameraman in question, Noah Bullard, explained that it wasn’t a brutal attack and more of a light shove.
Thank you to everyone that has reached out regarding the Mike McCarthy incident. I can see how the photo appeared like he pushed me but it was more of a hand to the lens. I did meet with coach McCarthy privately in his office and he did apologize. @NBCDFW #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/LuOfPVRqhq
— Noah Bullard (@noah_bullard) January 23, 2023
“Thank you to everyone that has reached out regarding the Mike McCarthy incident. I can see how the photo appeared like he pushed me but it was more of a hand to the lens. I did meet with coach McCarthy privately in his office and he did apologize,” Bullard tweeted.
The network and the camera crew did accept McCarthy’s apology.
It’s not the first time that NFL personnel has gotten into it with gameday crew. Raiders wideout Davante Adams pushed a cameraman following a “Monday Night Football” loss, and he was charged with misdemeanor assault.
It appears as though the incident with McCarthy won’t get that far, so we can all go back to laughing at that last play.