The NFL is turning into a circus with their controversial game-ending calls, and the resulting displeasure from fans, coaches and players is apparent.
The referees have been around since the start of football all the way back in 1892. The referees’ job is to throw penalty flags, enforcing rules, but lately, their role in the games have changed a little, and games have been decided because of them.
The Monday Night Football game featuring the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks had replacement officials while the regular NFL refs were in a labor dispute. The Seahawks threw a Hail Mary with eight seconds left in the game and it looked like it was caught, but Greg Jennings from the Packers also had his hands on the ball coming down. The refs finally called it a touchdown, though Jennings clearly had the ball when the whistle blew. The replacement refs really embarrassed the NFL with that horrible call. The uproar started after that from fans, players and coaches from the NFL. The next week the regular refs were back.
On Dec.1, the referees admitted they made mistakes in the Washington Redskins and New York Giants game after refs disagreed over the spot of the ball for a first down with less than two minutes left. The referees didn’t stop the game while they figured out where to spot the ball. The umpire ignored the far-side official who said it was a first down with forward progress and moved the ball back a half-yard. Usually, when there is confusion with the officials, they talk about it or go to review on video. However, they continued the game. The horrible part is the markers still read first down, making the Redskins believe they had a first down and Robert Griffin III ended up throwing an incomplete pass, making a fourth down, which confused them. They ultimately got the first down the next play, but ended up fumbling the ball afterwards. The Redskins probably would have called a different play if they knew it was a third down. The commentators on NBC were not happy, especially Chris Collinsworth.
There was controversy at the end of the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers game after the referees picked up a flag after initially throwing it for pass inference on the New England Patriots. Tom Brady threw in the endzone, but it wasn’t caught because the Panther’s Luke Kuechly had his hands wrapped around the waist of the Patriot’s wide receiver. The flag was picked up when the referees conferenced and decided it was uncatchable. The game ended after that and Brady was very upset, running over to the referees and voicing his displeasure. It was played over and over after the game as the commentators analyzed the play.
The referees have changed the game, making the league look bad with their controversial calls. Maybe it’s not the referees’ fault and maybe the NFL has a share of the blame. Whatever the case, the NFL and the referees need to explain better to the players, coaches and fans so we are not so critical of them. Football is a great sport, but the sport is changing in the NFL and sometimes it ends up a circus, and that’s not what you want in a professional sport.
