SPORTS | November 24th, 2013 9:12 AM

Two days after the news broke of NFL referee Roy Ellison's one-game suspension for cursing at Washington Redskins' offensive tackle Trent Williams, an NFL player reported that in a game midway through last season he was cursed by Ellison. The player, who wishes to remain anonymous, stated that the two got into an altercation following a call Ellison had made, whereupon Ellison "said some weird kind of voodoo [expletive] and told me [my team] was cursed now."

Shortly after, the team reportedly began experiencing odd occurrences on a regular basis. "Somebody would be jogging across the field and suddenly just trip over a painted line," the unnamed player said in his statement. "Or maybe we'd get to the locker room and everybody's lockers was all locked up, and we couldn't open them."

The player also acknowledged that more severe events sometimes occurred, including the entire team apparently contracting food poisoning simultaneously, even though the affected meals were eaten separately.

The NFLRA would not give an official statement at this time, although the vibe through social media indicates that the association clearly does not support this behavior. "A curse?? What year is this? I thought we put a stop to that after the 1970 merger!" an NFLRA member said via Twitter.

This news may delay the NFLRA's planned challenge of Ellison's suspension for profanity toward Trent Williams, as investigations by both the NFL and NFLRA of these cursing allegations are likely to ensue.

In addition to the various strange incidents described, the anonymous player also blamed the curse for his team's woes this season. "I think it's definitely affecting us," he said. "We're playing the same way we played last season, but we just can't seem to win."

When asked about the fact that his team continued to win last season and even made a playoff push after the alleged cursing took place, the player declined to comment.