The Immaculate Reception was not the first instant replay review

Anyone who appreciates NFL history knows about the Immaculate Reception -- the miracle play in the 1972 divisional playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and the host Pittsburgh Steelers. This is the game where the late Franco Harris caught a deflected pass and raced for the winning touchdown with five

7 officiating observations from the 2021 season

Commentary by Mark Schultz We made it through another season, and here are the officiating related things I noticed during the 18-week regular season. Expedited replay is a success I was skeptical at first, but once the bugs got worked out, the "replay assistance rule" turned into a valuable officiating tool this year. In

Instant replay mistake in AFC Championship Game confirmed

Sources tell Football Zebras that the NFL has internally acknowledged that replay incorrectly reviewed whether or not Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen stepped out of bounds before he threw a pass in Sunday's AFC Championship Game. https://streamable.com/c7ex0s Referee Bill Vinovich ruled that Allen had stepped out of bounds before he threw the

5 observations from championship weekend, 2020

We've made it all the way through the conference championships, and here are my officiating impressions from the weekend. 1. Umpire hustle https://streamable.com/38ntps Both Barry Anderson and Ramon George showed lots of hustle this weekend. It is hard to see in snippets of them running through the frame, but experienced zebra-watchers could tell

Hit on Kalif Raymond was legal, despite media outrage

The media screamed about a "blatant" (aren't they always?) missed hit on the Titans Kalif Raymond. After Raymond completed his catch, defender C.J. Gardner-Johnson delivered a hard hit on Raymond, forcing a fumble and New Orleans Saints recovery and long return (video). https://twitter.com/FTBeard11/status/1208856020597915649 Yes, it was a hard hit. Yes,, Raymond was

Get instant replay out of making judgement calls

Commentary by Mark Schultz #NFL100 was supposed to be a year-long celebration of pro football. But sadly, the year has featured frustration from media and former officials confused about what is and what isn't pass interference. Former vice president of officiating and current Fox Sports officiating analyst, Mike Pereira has just about

More Pac-12 officiating controversy: 3 retired officials blast officiating leadership

Three recently retired Pac-12 Conference officials, who have on field and instant replay experience, made public a letter excoriating the Pac-12 overall and their officiating leadership. Officials Fred Gallagher, Mack Gilchrist, and Chuck Czubin wrote the letter to commissioner Larry Scott, and director of officiating David Coleman. The three officials retired

No momentum for big instant replay rule changes

In light of one of the most controversial judgement calls in recent playoff memory, fans, pundits, players, owners and coaches called for NFL instant replay to step in and correct judgement calls. Right now, the only judgement call instant replay can check is 12-men on the field. Instant replay cannot help