During a game on 11/28/2013 between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin got in the way of a kickoff return by Jacoby Jones, as a result of standing with one foot on the field of play as Jones ran up the sideline. Video of the original incident is here, and an animated gif of the crucial interaction is here.
At Tomlin's weekly press conference a few days later, he issued an elaborate apology, partly for getting in the way of the play, but even more strongly for not taking the ensuing fuss more seriously. His statement is reproduced in full here, but the most linguistically-relevant part is this:
I think probably my biggest error on Thursday night was not realizing that that play jeopardized the integrity of the game from a perception standpoint.
Tomlin continued:
At no time Thursday night, in the game or after, did I realize that my actions could be perceived potentially as intentional, and that's a mistake on my part. As someone that's in my position who's supposed to preserve the integrity of the game of football, I should've realized the potential for that and acted accordingly. I didn't realize that potential. Really, I was focused on the blunder itself, the embarrassment it produced, and moving my football team past it. That was the number-one guiding influence of my actions. In not recognizing the potential of perception from that standpoint, I also fell short of the duties that come with my position.
This is a bit more subtle than the "I'm sorry that you're offended" non-apology, or even the "I'm sorry that you misunderstood me" variety. Tomlin accepts blame — for not realizing sooner that people would consider his actions to be a serious matter. But as usual, a similar approach has also been explored earlier in the comics…
Still, "from a perception standpoint" is an adjunct that other public figures may find reason to use in the future: "I made a mistake"… from a perception standpoint.
In fairness to Tomlin, he leads with a more forthright admission of error for the play itself:
My descriptions of my actions on that play are a lot of things: embarrassing, inexcusable, illegal, a blunder being many of the things I used to describe it. I take full responsibility for my actions on that play. I acknowledge that my actions unfortunately became part of the play.
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