Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Controversy - Packers / Seahawks



The replacement referees in the NFL have been calling several things that either don’t exist or are over board with calls. It seems that they lack knowledge of the rules and the game in general and should stick to high school and college ball. It wasn’t until Monday Night when the Seahawks hosted the packers that their calls actually cost a game.
With just seconds left in the 4th quarter, Wilson threw a hail mary into the endzone on the 4th down. Jennings, Tate, and several others jumped for the ball.
Jennings came down with the ball but at the same time Tate grabbed a hold of it as well. The play was reviewed as every scoring play is, and it was called a touchdown. This caused several eruptions throughout the packers and the NFL fan base.


Although the rule book does state:
”Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 5 states:Simultaneous Catch. If a pass is caught simultaneously by two eligible opponents, and both players retain it, the ball belongs to the passers. It is not a simultaneous catch if a player gains control first and an opponent subsequently gains joint control. If the ball is muffed after simultaneous touching by two such players, all the players of the passing team become eligible to catch the loose ball.”

There was pass interference on the play as well. If pass interference had been called the play would have stopped, ending the game. The touchdown would have been void and the packers would have come out with a win.
So really, did the seahawks win because of skill or because of a bad call.. were the green bay packers robbed of a win?

The NFL is backing the referees on the call as a touchdown because of the simultaneous catch rule, but will the fans continue to watch football sundays , mondays, and thursdays with these replacement referees due to the integrity of the game diminishing?

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