By Armando Salguero

Copyright outkick

Sometimes, the cover up is more curious than the actual crime and that is perhaps the case now with the alleged mugging of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Skylar Thompson days before his team’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin. Despite national attention on both sides of the Atlantic, it seems no one really wants a police investigation into the crime because the Irish national police are saying no one – not Thompson, not the Steelers and not the NFL – has reported the crime to them. Police: No Formal Complaint “No formal complaint has been made by any person at this time,” the national police, called An Garda Síochána, said in a statement on Monday. “Following preliminary enquiries, An Garda Síochána has no further information to substantiate, or not, any report this incident involved a robbery,” the statement added. The Irish Independent newspaper reported that “a number of males were involved in an assault in the Temple Bar and Dame Street area” of Dublin and that the player’s phone was stolen. “The male in his 20s [Thompson] was treated and assessed at the scene by emergency services personnel,” the police statement added. The incident happened around 2:30 a.m. The Irish Journal quoted Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan echoing the fact no criminal complaint has been filed with gardaí “in respect of that alleged criminal offense.” “If somebody has been the subject of an attack or an assault or a theft in the city center, they must report it to An Garda Síochána,” O’Callaghan added. Why Not File A Report? The Steelers acknowledged on Sunday they were aware of the situation regarding Thompson and were working with NFL security to gather more information but would have no further comment. The NFL similarly did not comment on Sunday. But now the question arises as to why those no-comments extend to police? Why hasn’t the NFL through NFL security, the Steelers, nor Thompson as an individual, filed a report with local authorities? OutKick asked the NFL this very question. And the NFL has offered no response. So, allow some speculation: NFL Aspirations At Odds With Bad Pub Plausible explanation No. 1 is that no one has gotten around to filing a report with police yet and that will happen eventually. That one is something of a stretch as the Steelers, along with Thompson are back in the United States and NFL personnel weren’t expected to stay behind in Dublin, either. Plausible explanation No. 2 is the league, and everyone associated with it, wants this matter to go away. The NFL, you see, has well-chronicled aspirations and intentions to expand its international footprint. Commissioner Roger Goodell said Sunday on NFL Network he wants the NFL to be a global sport with up to 16 games played abroad. But doing anything that highlights the unseemly details of playing games abroad – like exposing the traveling party to local crime – is probably not advantageous in achieving the greater goal. And filing a police report and turning an incident into an investigation has a way of expanding a story the NFL, the Steelers, nor Thompson might want to see gaining steam. Mugging Already Got Attention But if the NFL is trying to keep attention on the incident to a minimum, that has already failed. The story made ABC’s World News Tonight on Sunday. And the NFL Players Association released a statement about its intention to continue investigating the matter. “The NFLPA is actively gathering more information and working to understand the full circumstances surrounding what took place,” the union said in a statement. “As always, our priority is the health and safety of our player members, especially as we continue to work on player protections and well-being while playing international games…” Speaking of protection, maybe someone should have informed Thompson that sticking with a group would be the best way to avoid getting into trouble. Steelers Players Got Separated That’s because while he was with a group of players that went out together on Friday night, it didn’t last. “We were all separated,” offensive lineman Troy Fautanu told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after Sunday’s game. “It sucks – bad, because if we were all there with him …” Fautanu told the newspaper that players were not allowed to leave their hotel the night after the incident. He said they were “shut down.” It makes sense the Steelers might have told their players to stay in on Saturday night – you know, the night before their game against the Vikings.