While serving a one-game suspension, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill had two options last Sunday — watch Seattle's regular-season opener against San Francisco on television or watch the game at Qwest Field with thousands of Seahawks fans.
He chose the latter, which could land him and the team in hot water with the NFL.
The league is looking into whether the linebacker violated his suspension by attending Seattle's 31-6 victory as a spectator.
"I didn't know," said Hill, who was suspended for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. "I went to the game, and I thought it was fine. I was up in the stands. I didn't go on the field. I didn't go to the locker room or nothing like that. I went to the game to support my teammates."
NFL rules prohibit suspended players from attending their team's games even if they sit in the stands and avoid contact with teammates and coaches.
In an e-mail to The Associated Press, NFL spokesman Randall Liu said: "We do not expect to conclude the review before next week."
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll admitted he was unaware of the rule, but acknowledged the team should have informed Hill he needed to stay away from the stadium.
"The rules say that a guy that's suspended isn't supposed to be at the stadium, and so I didn't know that," Carroll said. "So we found out the hard way."
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