Tank's Take January 17, 2003

Blind Justice

If you cant read this you may qualify to be an official in the National Football League. In every sport an official is bound to miss a call. In baseball is all but guarantied to happen in every game with an umpire involved on every pitch. In basketball traveling calls are never called on spectacular plays, while in hockey the rules often as the games get more important. However when it comes to football any missed called or call made differently can ruin a team's season.

Just last week after the Wild Card round the NFL had to apologize to the New York Giants for missing a pass interference call on the final play of the game. If called correctly the Giants would have had another chance to win the game with a Field Goal. What exactly are the Giants to do with that letter of apology frame and hanging next to the trophy case? The mere fact that the NFL needs to send this letter is an absolute embarrassment. True the game should have never came down to this the Giants did blow a 24 point lead, but with so much on the line, a game should not end on a missed call.

In the NFL a missed called even in September could be the difference between missing the playoffs and holding the Lombardi Trophy in this ultra competitive age of parody in the NFL. However, a missed called in the January can haunt a team and forever tarnish a championship. Case in point last season's Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. There was no controversy in the Super Bowl or AFC Championship. However, they should have never been there. In the Divisional Round the Patriots trailed the Oakland Raiders at home by 3 points in the final minutes of the game, when Quarterback Tom Brady fumbled. Out of timeouts the game was essentially over for the Patriots. However, the play was reviewed and it was determined that Brady was attempting to pass when he fumbled. Thus it was an incomplete pass. The Pats would go on to win in overtime and the rest was history. However, the game will always hang in question, as they only won by technicality.

Did Brady fumble yes? Was the call correct yes? So how can both questions be correct? Simple it's a complicated rule known as the Tuck Rule if a Quarterback is attempting to pass he must have the ball tucked completely back into his body before it can be a fumble. This means even if he is attempting to tuck back into his body when he fumbles it is an incomplete pass. That goes against all logic, and that's what part of the problem is with rules and officials in the NFL.

The NFL has a series of complex rules and regulations, which can even confuse the most ardent NFL observer. Even the NFL officials can sometimes be confused over a call leading to huddles. However, with the 6 officials on the field someone should know the rules. When Referee Ron Blum announced during last week that he was unsure weather a play was reviewable in last week's Steelers-Titans game it was an embarrassment. It can be understandable that the back judge or linesman doesn't know, but the referee must know, since he is the captain of the team.

Part of the problem is that in the NFL officiating is only a part time job, since it is once a week this makes sense for the most part. It would be too expensive for the NFL and unreasonable for every official to give up their day job, which for most officials is quite lucrative. Officials have been known to be anything from attorneys to golf pros during the week. However, the headman the Referee should be different. If the NFL were to make the head official a fulltime job he can know all the rules figure all the best positioning to see the plays, for the other officials. This would be the best possible solution for clearing up confusion, and should be able to cut down on mistakes and technicalities.

The NFL could help too by simplifying the rules; a fumble is a fumble unless the knee touches the ground instead of complex tuck rules, would help end controversy and would, and will prevent the NFL from issuing more embarrassing letters of apology.