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Week 2: Giants at Cowboys

The amazing interception by the Giants’ Kenny Phillips off of the foot of Cowboys’ Jason Witten (video) could be the first use of what might be referred to as the “Ed Hochuli rule.”

You may remember last year’s botched call in the Chargers–Broncos game where an incomplete pass ruling could not be overruled as a turnover.

In this weekend’s Sunday Night Football game, the ruling was incomplete. However, in a Rockette-worthy display, it actually caromed of the shoe of Witten into the waiting hands of Phillips. Phillips then trotted to the end zone untouched, although whistles did not blow until he was at the 5-yard line.

Mike Carey overturned the incomplete ruling on replay, but the ball in these situations, even if there is a delayed whistle, will go back to the spot of recovery. Even in the absence of the whistle, the covering official signaled incomplete, which is equivalent to a whistle.

And, yet, I find that this was not the most discussed pick in the game, but this was.

On a side note, there was to be no doubt if a punted ball banged off of the video screen with NBC’s cameras making sure that they showed the 600-ton hovering HDTV on all punts. Annoyingly, I might add.

Please use the comment space in this post for any calls or rules interpretations that you see in Week 2.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has released its 2010 preliminary list of nominees for the Hall. The preliminary list of 131 will be whittled down first to 25, then 15, with four to seven being elected prior to Super Bowl XLIV. Among the list of nominees that is newsworthy here is former referee and current motivational speaker and blogger, Jim Tunney. He was previously on the long list of nominees for 2008.

Unfortunately, this is pretty much the end of the road, as history tells us. No official has ever been enshrined in the Hall, and none has made the semifinal list of 25 in the past five years at least, according to the Hall’s website. Those nominated in previous years:

• 2009: Ben Dreith
• 2008: Art McNally, Pat Haggerty, Tunney
• 2007: Rex Stuart
• 2006: Haggerty, McNally
• 2005: Haggerty, McNally

Looking over this list makes it readily apparent that game officials do not have serious consideration for the Hall. Last year, they nominated Ben Dreith, the referee known for his colorful descriptions of penalties (most notably, the penalty because “after he tackled the quarterback there, he was giving him the business down there!”). Now, I really enjoyed Dreith’s vivid vernacular, and he was certainly a good referee, but he was the sole nominee last year? Also, I will admit that, while I can’t recall every official that has worked the game, I have never heard of Rex Stewart Rex Stuart, the 2007 nominee. (If someone can please enlighten me, please do. Update: See comments.) McNally and the late Haggerty make the list frequently; notably absent is the late Norm Schachter.

While we don’t see many officials listed in the long list of nominees (with three in ’08 being the recent high-water mark), at least a half-dozen owners and general managers make the list, and generally two of them graduate to the semifinal list each year. I don’t doubt the qualifications of the Art Modells and the Jerry Joneses in their nominations and their contributions to the game. However, officials are not only athletes—sometimes decades senior to the players they must keep up with—but also must maintain a high level of accuracy. Consider that an average official is 98% accurate, and the best season for a quarterback is 71%.

So, we do extend congratulations to Tunney, and will be rooting him on to the next level. Hopefully, we will be pleasantly surprised.

It didn’t take long, but I had to make a slight modification to the site organization, based on a miscalculation on my part. We have a category that we place stories that profile a particular official or his off-the-field accomplishments titled, “Men in Black & White.” I thought it was a slightly clever way to name the category, with a little, if not slightly outdated, pop-culture reference. Nothing sexist implied.

So, now, we correct this to reflect an emerging, and welcome, change.

No fewer than five women have worked their way up in the ranks to NCAA Division I ball. The first female official to work a collegiate game was Sebrina Brunson last year in Div. II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. One of the five women starting in Div. I this weekend is profiled in The New York Times, Sarah Thomas of Conference USA. Thomas was scouted by former NFL referee and current C-USA coordinator, Gerry Austin.

“She made one tough call after another and nailed every one of them,” Austin said. “There was no reason not to hire her.”

As for the prospect of seeing women in the NFL stripes, current guidelines require 10 seasons of collegiate experience to be considered. That means 2017, at the earliest.

This season’s first “Official Review” on the NFL Network signature program NFL Total Access offers us a double dip from the league’s vice president of officiating, Mike Pereira. In addition to the cablecast segment (video), we were treated to a web-exclusive extended segment (video). The topics:

• The reversed touchdown catch by Louis Murphy of the Raiders that we covered here (and here). Pereira mentions the catch “process” that we described, and even used the same clip from preseason that appeared on 2009 Media Tape #1 that we referred to in that first post.
• In the Steelers–Titans game, Cortland Finnegan signaled a fair catch immediately upon the punt, which was too early.
• Al Harris of the Packers was flagged incorrectly for illegal contact on the Bears’ receiver Devon Hester, which NFL Network commentator Rich Eisen aptly described as “turnstyling.” This was under the jurisdiction of field judge Jim Howey.
• A touchdown catch by Braylon Edwards of the Browns after he was driven out of bounds by Cedric Griffin of the Vikings. Since the action that placed Edwards out of bounds was a penalty, all Edwards had to do was reestablish two feet in bounds, which replay showed he just barely missed. Second-year side judge Keith Washington was covering the play, and we’ll consider that he called it correctly, even though the call was reversed by the benefit of replay.

Week 1: Chargers at Raiders

As a follow-up to our in-game post about the reversal to Louis Murphy’s touchdown call, referee Carl Cheffers spoke with a pool reporter following the game regarding the controversial call. The transcript:

Cheffers: We had a situation where the receiver caught the pass in the air and as he is coming down to the ground, he is actually going to the ground. That’s a defined term in our rule book, a player, a receiver who is going to the ground. The rule book says, if a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass, with or without contact by opponent—so that can be on his own; In this case, he got hit by an opponent—he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or in the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete. That wasn’t the case. What we ruled, what we saw in replay, was that he was going to the ground, as he came down the ball came loose, he lost control of the ball, the ball skidded along the ground, he eventually completely lost control of the ball. So, by rule, by what we saw in review, it’s an incomplete pass.

Q: So, this has nothing to do with him having both feet down—it has nothing to do with that, it has nothing to do with making a football move? It’s just what you said there?

Cheffers: Yeah, he was up, I think if I remember, [on] one foot, he was getting contacted prior to his second foot coming down. By definition in our rule book, he’s going to the ground and has to maintain possession of the ball throughout the entire act of the catch. And in this case, he lost possession and the ball hit the ground. Therefore, it’s incomplete.

Q: It was pretty clear-cut?

Cheffers: Pretty clear-cut.

As a side note, the reference to “a football move” is old language to the determination of a catch. It is no longer used to define a reception.

In a tape release to the media, vice president of officiating, Mike Pereira, defined the catch in two circumstances. First, when a receiver is going to the ground (either on his own or due to contact by a defender), the receiver must maintain possession as he hits the ground.

The second situation is slightly more complicated. In situations where a receiver does not go to the ground, he must maintain possession for a recognizable element of time. In other words, a freeze frame or slow-motion replay by itself cannot be used to determine that the process of a catch has been completed. If it is nearly simultaneous that the second foot comes down and the ball is dropped—so much so that it can’t be determined without slow-motion—then it is incomplete. Replay reviews are shown at regular speed for final determination; this “element of time” perception is the language that replaced the “football move” determination.

Week 1: Chargers at Raiders

Near halftime of the second part of the Monday Night Football doubleheader, the Raiders were driving for a go-ahead touchdown, which they scored on the initial call. The replay booth initiated a replay.

During the review, the announcers (not the weekly crew, but morning-show and game-show credentials among the participants) insisted that they “would be shocked” if the call was overturned. The ball was on the ground at the completion of the catch, which color commentator Steve Young said was irrelevant, as the receiver had two feet down in the end zone.

Referee Carl Cheffers explained that the reception is a process: catch, control, two feet, maintaing control to the ground.

The words of calling a reception a “process” should have been familiar to Young. The league’s vice president of officiating, Mike Pereira, uses that terminology in a periodic tutorial video disseminated to media outlets. These videos particularly focus on new or frequently misunderstood rules for announcers and writers. Zebra Blog reviewed this video prior to the game, plainly titled 2009 Media Tape #1, but clearly explaining with numerous plays from preseason the catch-plus-ground equation. Young should have spent the 15 minutes we did reviewing the tape that Pereira took the trouble to disseminate to the media.

Commentator Mike Golic said he personally went to the replay booth for an explanation of the play. The description given pretty much matched the description given on 2009 Media Tape #1. To his credit, Young did say he should have known the rule. But, then he said that it could’ve gone either way.

No, Steve, please do your homework.

Week 1: Bills at Patriots

In the middle of the fourth quarter (gamebook), Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas sacked Bills quarterback Trent Edwards for a ten-yard loss. In the process of tackling the quarterback, Thomas pulled Edwards to the ground, drawing a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty.

The Monday Night Football crew all thought this was a particularly questionable call on replay. However, each replay was shown without sound. The quarterback was called in the grasp, and the play was whistled dead. In the continuing action after the whistle, Thomas drove Edwards to the turf. The roughness call was not because of the severity of the takedown, but that Thomas continued after the quarterback clearly after the whistle had blown.

The call, in this case, was correct. Referee Scott Green (in his AFL Legacy orange Creamsicle uniform) was covering on the play.

It is not exactly America’s Got Talent, but finding the new vice president of officiating is turning out to be one tough audition.

Peter King of SI.com is reporting that the league is restarting its process to find a replacement for current officeholder Mike Pereira. Pereira announced on the NFL Network in January that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2009 season.

The process is definitely taking longer than anticipated. In February, Pereira said his replacement would shadow him through this season.

Pereira took over from Jerry Seeman (then, the position was senior director of officiating) in 2001. Prior to being elevated to the league office, Pereira served as a side judge for only two seasons at the NFL level.

I am not sure that Seeman would be a candidate for the position as it is today. Pereira is now the league’s highest profile executive with a weekly “Official Review” segement on NFL Total Access. This involves presentation skills far more polished than a 10-second announcement over the public-address system. A successful candidate must also navigate and rise above the flood of faux hipness that the network talking heads constantly exude.

While this represents the most visible part of the job, Periera and his staff grade every play of every game from no less than three camera angles. The grades are then computed into a percentage for playoff assignments.

It is unlikely that the league will field a candidate from the current roster of officials, if the new appointee is to shadow Pereira this season. There were five officials that retired in the offseason, including referee Bill Carollo and field judge Duke Carroll.

But, for now the league is back at square one for lining up potential candidates. Perhaps the NFL Network can start a clone of America’s Got Talent, with commissioner Roger Goodell, Pereira, and Goodell’s newest special advisor, John Madden, manning the buzzers.

Week 1: Bears vs. Packers

The Packers clearly had a successful 2-point conversion late in the game. One replay was aired prior to the kickoff that showed it was close but, undeniably, was a complete pass.

As soon as the replay cleared the screen, whistles were heard to initiate a booth review of the play. This hearkens back to comments by Mike Pereira, head of officials, on his assessment of the Cardinals’ final play in Super Bowl XLIII:

You learn and … next time it happens, at this point of the game, this big of a play, let’s go ahead and [call for a replay review].

Pereira said that the replay guidelines would be revised to reflect this. I am calling it the “critical juncture review,” or the replay to satisfy the conspiracy theorists.

The replay official was Ken Baker and the referee was Ron Winter.