Joe Hawley says Seahawk spit in his face, eyes Jarran Reed as culprit

TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Joe Hawley has accused a Seattle Seahawks player of spitting in his face Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Speaking Thursday on the "Joe Hawley Show" on Tampa Bay Sports Radio 620 WDAE, Hawley said he believes rookie Jarran Reed was the culprit.

"Yeah I think that's who it was," Hawley said of Reed, although he wasn't 100 percent certain. "They were hitting me late and then one guy got up, and when I came up all fired up, he actually spit in my face after one of the plays. And that really got me fired up because I just don't think that should be a part of the game at all."

The Bucs won 14-5 thanks to two early touchdown throws from Jameis Winston to Mike Evans, but struggled to move the ball for the remainder of the game against a stout Seahawks defense.

"I mean, it's one thing thing [to be] pushing, shouting, yelling. But as soon as he spit in my face, I was pretty fired up about that," Hawley said. "He's a young guy. I guess he just -- that's not the way to do it."

At one point during the game, after the Seahawks made a stop on third and 2, Hawley had to be restrained from Reed and other Seahawks players who were pushing and shoving. No flags were thrown, however.

Hawley said he thinks Seahawks players were frustrated with Tampa Bay's physical play.

"The way we were playing -- we decided we were gonna play hard and get after them because we knew that's the way they played," he said. "And I think they were surprised when that happened, so they tried to talk about it and then we continued to do it and they started getting chippy with it. I just don't think they were used to the way we were playing, how hard we were playing. I guess they were the only ones who thought they were allowed to play like that."