NFL Reporter Accused Of Falling Asleep During Interview Monday

However, Kaboly adamantly insisted otherwise. He gave the oldest excuse in the book on social media.

"I wasn't sleeping," Kaboly claimed. "I was resting my eyes."

Kaboly also shared an official statement on the incident to The Athletic's Matt Schneidman.

"I was not sleeping. If you look, I strategically place my phone to tape Mike Tomlin, and I was only hitting it when he said something interesting," he said. "Maybe the eyes got a little droopy at a time, but I say I was not sleeping."

Kaboly also noted that it was 7:45 a.m., but he still called the story "fake news" when defending his case.

"For the final time, let me break it down: I was videoing Tomlin from a bad angle, so I was looking to make sure I had him in the frame when he was talking," Kaboly wrote.

McAfee playfully addressed the sleeping scandal on Monday's show.

"To be clear, Kaboly was there early. He represents the program well," McAfee said. "He got a front-row seat, literally ... He's so focused that it's going to appear as if he's actually snoozing, sleeping, drooling while Mike Tomlin's speaking."

Making matters worse, Kaboly was definitely awake when Tomlin roasted him. Kaboly asked the Steelers head coach if he heard about DK Metcalf's affinity for candy. The reporter joked about having the same diet as the new Pittsburgh wide receiver, which set Tomlin up for a dig that McAfee highlighted on his ESPN show.

"He wears it a little differently than you," Tomlin said.