NFL on the verge of anarchy
The replacement debacle.
NFL on the verge of anarchy
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
I don’t remember all of the details, but one of my favorite officiating stories involves Tim Higgins, the longtime college basketball referee who is reportedly retiring this year. It was at an NCAA Tournament game, deep into the tournament, maybe at a regional final. I don’t remember the teams or the year or the exact circumstances, but this is my recollection:
That in this enormous game, there was an altercation between players from the teams. The question was whether or not somebody took an actual swing at somebody else. By the letter of the law, the player in question did take an actual swing and should have been ejected -- which would have disqualified him from his team’s next tournament game, too. Even though it wasn’t really a punch, more a reaction and glancing than actual violence, the rules are the rules and it was a point of emphasis.
Except that Higgins chose not to eject the player because the consequences were too great. And as things calmed down, and they waited for play to resume, Higgins sidled up to one of the other officials and said something like, “We’d better check the schedule in New York for next week,” meaning the NIT. Because Higgins knew that his decision would result in him being passed over for further NCAA Tournament assignments but he did it anyway -- because it was the right thing to do, given the totality of the circumstances.
All of which is a long way of saying: when is somebody in the NFL going to do the right thing?
There was a chance on Monday night. The Packers did not have to be screwed out of that game. The referees are incompetent and the owners of the league have no conscience, but that has already been established. There still was a way to get this right.
When the referee went under the replay hood, there should have been two people in his ear -- a regular replay official (not a replacement guy) and a veteran officiating supervisor. They should have had the gumption to fix this, to ackowledge that the Packers M.D. Jennings made the game-saving interception in the end zone before the Seahawks' Golden Tate began to attempt to wrestle the ball away from him.
It is true that replay was never intended to settle these kinds of simultaneous possession disputes. But, unless I’m missing something in the rulebook, simultaneous possession is not one of the specifically prohibited uses of replay. Given that, and given that all touchdown catches are reviewed, and that one thing they’re supposed to check is that the player had possession until the play is over, it would seem permissible to have a look at this.
Maybe it would have vaguely violated replay procedures. So what? Nobody was asking them to throw a flag on the obvious pass interference committed by Tate on the play -- that would have been a bridge too far for replay, and set an untenable precedent, and everybody gets that.
But somebody needed to step into this gray area to tell this scared rabbit of a referee what to do.
One of those voices in his headphones needed to do the right thing.
The NFL looks terrible today, and it should. The owners of this business, drunk with power and arrogant because of it, chose the time and place of this labor dispute with the real referees. They could have continued to negotiate during the season but they chose a lockout instead -- and now they reap the whirlwind. The games are essentially being officiated by a guy in a black windbreaker on the sidelines wearing a headset. No one has any confidence in what is going on. Coaches are becoming abusive to the officials. The officials are becoming more hesitant, not less. And players have come emboldened in the wake of Monday night to speak their minds on the subject, mostly on Twitter.
As Saints quarterback Drew Brees tweeted, “Ironic that our league punishes those based on conduct detrimental. Whose CONDUCT is DETRIMENTAL now?”
We still don’t know what happened on Monday night -- the league has yet to issue a statement. But we do know that they cannot fix the wrong that was done. The result is in the books. The potential consequences for the Packers are obvious. There is nothing anybody can do, not now.
Except make sure that this never happens again. I would say that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has 1 week to get this settled. His league is on the verge of anarchy.
UPDATE at 12:30: The NFL issued a statement on the play. This is the guts of it. Rough translation: too bad.
"While the ball is in the air, Tate can be seen shoving Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to the ground. This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game. It was not called and is not reviewable in instant replay.
"When the players hit the ground in the end zone, the officials determined that both Tate and Jennings had possession of the ball. Under the rule for simultaneous catch, the ball belongs to Tate, the offensive player. The result of the play was a touchdown.
"Replay Official Howard Slavin stopped the game for an instant replay review. The aspects of the play that were reviewable included if the ball hit the ground and who had possession of the ball. In the end zone, a ruling of a simultaneous catch is reviewable. That is not the case in the field of play, only in the end zone.
"Referee Wayne Elliott determined that no indisputable visual evidence existed to overturn the call on the field, and as a result, the on-field ruling of touchdown stood. The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review.
"The result of the game is final."
@guyguy4, I have to agree with you. Alot of crying over nothing. I see no difference from any other past game.— junethe4th- This is all Michael Vick's fault— philly thug
- So, what you are saying in the beginning of the article is that rules apply to everyone, unless the situation warrants it. The college ref you talk about decided on his own that the stakes were too high and decided to look the other way. And that's OK with you? Wow.— Jen D
- blown call happen all the time. This Union backing website will look for any reason to blame the NFL.— joemani28
- It's officially the *2012 NFL Season— hillbillybirdsfan
- guyguy4, idiot comment of the year— peteike
- Why the heck didn't the players refuse to play without the union referees? They are all complaining and telling the fans to take a stand and do something to get the league to settle with the striking refs. Isn't that their job? If the players had taken a stand from the beginning, and stood united with their "union brothers" none of this stuff would've happened. The league would've figured out a way to work it out with the referees. These players are getting exactly what they deserve with these replacement referees. They only care about themselves, and just like in all union disputes in professional sports, the fans are getting screwed.— E
- "More" control does not matter. Jennings had control first, Tate grabbed at the ball after the fact. Not a simultaneous catch, anyone feeling otherwise is an idiot.— voodoochile75
- The real problem is that most of the controversial calls are judgement calls whether the replacement refs or regular refs.
While last nights game was particularly bad its become obvious as to how much effect the refs,, period ,have on the outcome of games.
Alot of the bad calls are reversed via replays but especially pass interference and holding calls are consistently inconsistent when applied.
The big diference is that the regular refs cover up their bad calls and keep the game moving whereas the replacement refs stop the game and expose their uncertainty.But even with the real refs there usually is a controversial call.
If the Commissioner had guts he would have reversed the call but he doesn't want to set a precedent that would really create a bad situation for the league.
One thing that should happen is that the fans who are the real victims here should get a refund on their season tickets. This is not what they paid to see.— gardner - The DB made the mistake of trying to catch it instead of knocking to the ground or out of play. If he had done that. There would have been nothing to review. Maybe the guy has an incentive clause in his contract for making INTs, I don't know. Anyway, the day I start feeling sorry for the GB Packers will be a cold day in hell...lol— Paul SoTX
- The NFL owners are making the NHL owners look statesmen and geniuses. The old joke line used to be: "Who's smarter than the smartest major league baseball owner?" The answer: "The dumbest NFL owner." No more, guys, no more.— John Guiniven
- I completely agree with -tomfox. I really havent read any updates on the replacement refs current contract negotiations.— Yes_General
- FUNNY....GOOF JOB TOMFOX.....NOBODY HAS MENTIONED WHAT THE REFS WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS. WHY NOT MENTION LABOR'S DEMNANDS IN CONJUNCTION WITH CALLING OUT THE OWNERS? AND FORGET THE MONEY, THE REFS MAKE EXCELLENT MONEY FOR WORKING, AT MOST, 20 GAMES A YEAR. ALL I WANT TO HEAR IS BOTH SIDES OF STORY.— T. Paine
- The owners give Roger Goddell his marching orders regarding bringing back the real refs. The owners are still making boatloads of money with filled stadiums, fans buying NFL gear, etc. What kind of message could fans around the NFL send the owners? How about a nationwide, stadium-wide chant in the stands that mocks the game. Loud enough to be picked up by the TV microphones and showy enough to be seen by network cameras. The owners need to feel the frustration of fans, they need to be embarrassed on national TV. Things won't change until fans organize and voice their displeasure with the farce currently happening with these replacement scab refs. Someone just needs to come up with a catchy chant.— misterhman
- Hey now its time for those at a disadvantage to get their "fair shot". We now have a liberal utopia of NFL refs, not based on merit but on diversity. We have fat refs, skinny refs, black, white, asian, female all living in harmony and fairness.— ccdesign
