NFL on the verge of anarchy
The replacement debacle.
NFL on the verge of anarchy
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Officials try to sort out the final play of Monday's game between the Packers and Seahawks. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)
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."
Comments (78)
Totally True, just sayin'...— DJ- This comment has been deleted. — Dew Schbag
- as you so ably demonstrate, yes, it can. — ekw555
- They've been screwing up the rules for nearly a decade. Still, tie goes to the receiver, and both guys had the ball. Although it appears that the defensive back had "more" control, it doesn't matter. Receiver's ball.— Lonewolf11
- C'mon. This is really Pete Carroll posting under a pseudonym, right? — raichleb
- These things happen even with regular officials calling the plays. The proof is Brett Hull's 1999 Stanley Cup winning "goal." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_URO6cwLbM
- I feel that world events should dictate how this NFL situation is handled. NFL Fans everywhere unite... we should storm NFL Headquarters, Burn the NFL Flag, Burn Roger Goodell in effigy and in general act like a bunch of tools... just sayin'. No offense DJ.— CA Scum
- Putting one arm over a ball firmly held by the two arms, and in the chest of the D-back is not a tie in my book. Saw the play, it was an INT.— bobcitydoc
Comment removed.- "The league is totally unwatchable." Right on, bro. One of the replacement officials, Craig Ochoa, was fired by the Lingerie Football League: http://deadspin.com/5946112/the-lingerie-football-league-announces-that-it-fired-a-couple-crews-which-apparently-are-now-officiating-in-the-nfl-because-of-incompetence
- I think the roughing the passer call before the last play, made the T.D. Call seem more suspect.— Phillyruger
- Lonewolf- Learn the rules.... Its if they both have it at the time of the catch not on the ground. Then it would go to WR as a tie.— fman727
- " Still, tie goes to the receiver, and both guys had the ball. Although it appears that the defensive back had "more" control, it doesn't matter. Receiver's ball." Look everyone, its wolf trying to be controversial. ooooh. Gimme a break. Jennings, with two hands, intercepted the ball, went to the ground, whereupon Tate put two hands on the ball. Possession was clearly with Jennings. Yes, it does matter the defensive back had more control. He initially pulled the ball from the air. The body positions were clear as well. Please.— Murrayman
- I think they should give the ball back to that mean person who stole it.— neddyflanders
- Nothing is going to happen until fans stop watching. So it is up to YOU to do something about it, and turn off your TV on Sunday.— commenter1111
- In one of the 20,000 stories that have been filed on the Replacement Ref Follies, has anyone outlined the specific problems in the contract negotiations with the real referees? I mean, the NFL is a multi-billion dollar product. How much money are we talking about here?— tomfox
- Check my link below...outlines it pretty well, except I still can't figure out what Goodell's exact role is in this. — uncle meat
- Green Bay gets screwed two ways here - 1) the fact that possession, in this case, cannot be overturned by replay, and 2) they don't have AN OWNER to plead his case and try to get this settled. They are owned by the city of Green Bay collectively.— uncle meat
- First World Problems.— PhillyPhan4for4
- Nice work, Rich. Best article I've read on the topic today.— raichleb
- The referees can't be making so much in the big picture that it has a significant effect on the NFL, so why is the league being so tough? Maybe now that the owners are affected by bad calls they can come to their senses and tell Roger Ramjet to settle. It's a travesty, and who suffers? The fans and the players. And I thought the league cared about the "quality of the product we put on the field"!— philharmonic55
- I think Rich could have done a better job of explaining how this is the owners doing, and not Goodell's. I'm still not sure how Goodell is involved, but the owners are the ones locking out the refs. And as more of them get screwed by the scabs, more of them will want this settled.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/nfl-referee-lockout-pensions_n_1879049.html (HTML deleted)— uncle meat
- I think Rich could have done a better job of explaining how this is the owners doing, and not Goodell's. I'm still not sure how Goodell is involved, but the owners are the ones locking out the refs. And as more of them get screwed by the scabs, more of them will want this settled.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/nfl-referee-lockout-pensions_n_1879049.html— uncle meat - I had money on the game...looked like a pick to me.— 2ndNlong
- Is it really true that we KNOW that there would have been no controversy if the regular refs were there? Been watching football a long time and we have seen calls every week that leave us scratching our heads. I saw all the replays and I think that it really isn't clear who fully possessed that ball at the end of the play. We see replays when there is only one player involved where we watch frame by frame "did the receiver possess and control the ball through the play" and it's still tough to call. Think it's easier with two guys?
Get off the replacement guys backs. There are doing OK considering. Players and coaches just find them convenient punching bags for their own failures.
Read the rules,Hofman. Only if GB player had control before they hit the ground does the simultaneous catch rule not apply. It's close. It's a judgment call. I'll go with the guy who was two feet from the two players and who has reffed more games at any level than me, you and every complainer out there combined.— RememberTheMaine - Completely untrue. Yes the regular officials make mistakes but they do not make this many mistakes, not even close. See, you actually don't really understand the game or know the rules so it just looks like the same game to you but it is so far from being even adequate. Yesterday, the refs forced the Eagles to accept a penalty instead of allowing them their right to decline and have the play stand all because they had made the wrong call the play before and repeated first down when it should have been second. So they made Andy Reid accept the penalty and look even dumber than he already makes himself look. There are literally 4 to 5 types of these calls in every game I watch. They gave a team an extra timeout at the end of agame for crimes sake. Sorry but this level of incompetence is not what the regular refs provide. And with instant replay they get those right like 99.999999 percent right. As for the play, no one can argue it was a simultaneous catch and still have credibility. — UncleStosh
- One wise man once said, "Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair!"
— Flyers2001 - What were you trying to prove? That deep down, everyone's as ugly as you? You're alone. You'll be in a padded cell forever...
— Bob Sacamano - The players are to blame for a lot of this ... the unions should stick together ... remember how bad the "real" refs are ... still they have an alleged union and tat keeps them from being fired for doing the things these guys do.— FatBoy90
- Actually, there is a rule that states the commisioner can over rule the call. Roger has the ability to make this right but it wont fix the issue on the field. But you have to wonder a couple things: Why didnt Seattle kick a field goal in that situation on the 24 yard line? And arent all DB's taught to swat the ball down? Instead Jennings wanted to pad his stats with an INT and it cost them the game. If he swats this ball away there is no issue.— traugdog420
- Seattle was down 12-7 with seconds left in the game, so obviously a field goal does nothing for them. — joeags
- you are all a bunch of clowns. it was a judgement call. did the refs cause the 8 sacks in the first half too? try actually knowing the game a bit instead of focusing on one judgement call that hardly decided the outcome.— thingfish
- — Lonewolf11 and thingfish, you 2 do not have a clue! You are both stupid and unfortunately there is no known cure fore stupidity. You both should come out of your mother's basements and try to get a real job. Unfortunately, you are probably too dumb for anyone to hire you.— oneway
- nothing but a bunch of cry babys.me thinks they should play without a helmet. then we will see who the tough guys are.— sophwill
- you fools are only doing what Goddell and the NFL want. You people will be watching in droves next week, then ranting on comment boards about how the officials suck. Are you all really this mindless? And Uncle Meat, come up with your own screen name and stop stealing other peoples references...perhaps you should choose a Styx reference.— thingfish
- I think fans need to do something. I suggest a boycott of a big NFL sponsor, Papa John's Pizza. Nothing against Papa John's, except their continued sponsorship supports the owners and helps ensure that the replacement refs will continue to be used.
All NFL Fans: Boycott Papa Johns! (More NFL Sponsor boycotts to follow)— WizardofBoz - ... feel sorry for no one, no franchise ...
// Eagles are
0 - Existance of the Superbowl //
-- We need anarchy if we are ever to have a shot --
— LivePhilly_DiePhilly - The NFL has issued a statment, although, they didn't finish it...it should have read, "The result of the game is final....and correct"— thingfish
- Union...It is time to give the regular officials what they want. The regular officials have the NFL by the footballs.— bump
- Green Bay deserves it. Rule #1 for end-of-game Hail Mary's: don't try to catch the ball - just bat it down. Dumb play, that gave official a chance to make an error. But initial blame is on Packers!— glroark
- "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)"
Hate to let you know Rich, but the replay officials are NOT replacements! They are the regular officials.— gdibig - Ahhhh, I see the owners via the League just issued an F. U. to Green Bay and the fans.
Way to go NFL!
I'm kinda done with the season. What's the point when the games are now farcical?
The fans watching via TV don't even see 90% of the shenanigans going on; the replacements and league save those for TV timeouts. You have no idea what is going on.— fmMD - My guess is those saying Seattle made the catch had some dinero's on them to cover.....would love to see if they had GB would they have felt the same.....— johnob14
- The refs are really bad, but the real refs haven't been that better during the years either. There are so many replays these days because the real or replacement refs can't make the right call anymore its ridiculous. Now don't get me wrong, the real refs are better then this slop, but not THAT much better.— co
- Yeah, because the real refs are so much better? Seriously, everyone is trying to blow up every single call the replacement refs make at this point. Do they take longer to make the calls at times and have to correct their own actions on occasion? Sure. I think that was to be expected. Otherwise does it seem like their calls on the field are actually that much worse? No.
I don't want to be THAT guy and say it's getting blown up because probably 95% of sports columnists are union-supporting liberals but if you think there isn't a tinge of that in all of these anti-replacement ref stories than your judgment is worse than the replacement officials'.
— guyguy4 - @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
- Rich - What I find interesting is that many in the national media and every Ravens fan bring up how the replacement refs cost the Ravens the game against the Eagles. Yet no one seems to be talking about it in Philadelphia.— VitoCorleone
- eagles are so screwed. time's yours.— djack10
- The players are not going to refuse to play. If
they refused to play, they would not get paid and would lose thousands and thousands of dollars. That just is no going to happen.— oneway - Too bad us lemmings just flap our gums and won't do anything about it! It would be great to for the TV cameras to turn on to an empty stadium and nobody tuned in to notice... Even if all of the ticket holders waited until after the game started to go in... It's all wishful thinking, the odds of anyone actually standing up to be heard are slim to none!— maroonedinVA
- Remove Goodell. Fire Andy. Get the refs back and lets start playing real football again. THE NFL HAS TURNED INTO, THE BIGGEST JOKE IN SPORTS.— Apollo Creed
- It's the same thing as with the NHL- the owners want to do it their way, or nothing else. What really s***s is that the comissioners are really working for the owners, even though they have the players to take care of also.— mrjarn
- Ravens fans have no beef; their man pushed off at crucial time in the play...just as the ball was coming towards him and Asomugha. Just because it's rarely called doesn't make it a bogus call. Asomugha was called for some pretty ticky tacky interference just prior to that. And it seems there was confusion on a holding penalty before that. Couldn't tell if Reid declined the penalty or if the refs just marched off the infraction yards. So poetic justice: the ravens got a fg not a td. As to last night, the interpreation of the rules was correct, however the Seattle man did not have possession, the GB defender clearly did, and the Seattle receiver put his hands on the ball....I don't think the taking the catch to the ground thing anticipated that another player can simply just put his hands on the ball to claim "possession."— retzlaff
- No one here will tune out the NFL, so the whole thing is quite the joke - nothing but feigned outrage.
I find the worst thing about the Replacement refs is ball placement and indecision....this is fundamental football refereeing and you can really see the inexperince with the uncertainty here.
I also think thee coaches are crying a wee bit - i can't stand when coaches get all worked up and this is giving them reason to behave like little children.
And isn't Shiano the most bush league guy in the world? he's one and done.— Owatagoofiam - The refs are not incompetent... They are unqualified for the job they are doing. Big difference!— the3rdrail
- I gave up on the NFL same time I gave up on Pro Wrestling. Good Refs or Bad.. haven't seen this much interest in decades.— sillybilly
- I got it. Hire a Replacement Commissioner!— alwaysphil1
- Who would have thought the Packers and Seahawks would be a game that forever lives in infamy. More important, how about that Seahawks defense. 8 sacks in the first half.— Dexter
- I'm not convinced the "real" referees would have necessarily gotten that final play at Seattle correct. Go back and listen to Mike Tirico's call in real-time. He actually said the words "simultaneous" as the players went to the ground. It wasn't until the replay was shown that Jennings appeared to have the INT. Even then, I'm not sure there was conclusive evidence to overturn the TD call. At whatever point Jennings completed the catch, you could argue that Tate had both hands on the ball. I guarantee if it went the other way, Seattle fans would cry foul.— TripleOption
- No way was that a TD catch. DB had two hands on it, pulled it to his chest, while the WR tried to pry it out with one hand until they hit the ground, when he managed to get a second hand on it. DB had possession all the way, WR maybe half the way. Horrible call, but one I'm not so sure the regular refs would have ruled differently, though they may have called the obvious offensive pass interference. My only gripes with the replacements is the lack of policing and amount of time it takes them to decide where to spot the ball. Every game I've seen the last two weeks at different points devolve into multiple scrums, and none of the officials do anything about it. Then when they do call a penalty it seems like they require a 5 minute conference for them to march off yardage. I know they are in a tough position, and most are doing the best they can with limited training and experience, but all the stoppages make it hard to stay in the game.— troke
- It's worth noting that Mike Pereira, the Fox officiating consultant/expert, said that it took him about 5 years to fully understand all of the nuances and intricacies of the NFL rulebook. These replacement refs received less than 2 months training. People should cut them some slack. With that said, however, they absolutely need to do a better job with consistency and not being intimidated. I'm sure that's easier said than done, but it's seems obvious to outside observers that they are entirely too inconsistent on some of the common penalties like holding and pass interference. They really should scale back the number of penalties and seek to only call the truly egregious ones. At least that way, the game would somewhat revert back to how it was played in the 60s and 70s. The players using and abusing the refs isn't helping matters either. It gets really old listening to all of these players whine while at the same time taking advantage of the situation. They say the NFL isn't protecting their safety and yet they turn around and increase the amount of illegal hits and other dirty plays. It also doesn't help that they literally ask for a flag on every single play. There's fault with all parties in this mess. The sooner it gets resolved the better.— Penfold18
- The only answer is to show only Lingerie League games for the rest of the year.— orange rhino
- Wow!! It didn't take long before seeing some posts about how "it's true" and how it was legit... How can anyone in their right mind, whether they bet on the game or not, see that this was a BLATAINT missed call??? Whomever thinks Tate had ANY type of possession doesn't understand the concept of possession, period! If one player has two arms controlling the ball, and another player has a single hand on the ball/touching the ball, how is that possession?? In EVERY shot that the camera shown Tate had ZERO possession. IE. The ball was nowhere near his body. It was only being clutched by his hand because he was close enough to the DB to do so. This isn't rocket science people(sorry for the cliche)! The ONLY people who think Tate possessed that ball are the ones who bet on Seattle, live in Seattle or are used to lying to themselves and others. PERIOD!
The NFL should be ashamed of theirselves. The "refs" should be ashamed of theirselves for not getting that call right. If this were to happen this Sunday night....I fear for anyone wearing a Giants jersey, zebra jersey and Laurie. And while I bring up JL, he should fire Reid IMMEDIATELY for his blatant stubborness. Jeff, this is YOUR product! FIX IT!!— mostofurfools - Nothing's perfect in this world, and if it is, people always find a way to mess it up! It's a fact of life, and everyone associated with the NFL are displaying teenage immaturity, always trying to skirt the rules whenever there is a weak administration afoot. People basically like to lie and live a lie, and that's what is front and center about NFL players and coaches today...see what you can get away with!! Role models, my asp! Where has your pride gone? And do not try to blame this on the zebras, regular or temporary!
And when are we going to stop allowing football coaches to berate the officiating? Every other sport penalizes coaches for mistreating the officials, and it should NOT be condoned in football. Again what does this say about the character of the performers involved. It's a hard task to officiate any high speed sport today, and maybe there is TOO much emotion plugged into it now. It sets a bad example to kids and parents on how to deal with life's everyday problems. Intimidation is not a great value to espouse in a free society where everyone is supposed to have their rights honored. What a joke this is as viewed by other less civilized societies.
It's time to take stock again in what your intentions are here. The almighty dollar? whether for the performer OR the payer? I don't think I'm going to bother watching this stupid reality soap opera any more. I have better things to do with my life. Shouldn't we all?— ocpizza
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