Halftime Sports

Zebra Hunt: The Problem with Today’s NFL Officiating System

October 10, 2015


Photo Credits: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Kevin Jones

There is one job in sports that, believe it or not, is more thankless than being an NFL kicker: being a game official.

Whether in football, baseball or basketball, the game official is always the first to get harassed by angry, frustrated fans – who hasn’t heard the booming “boos” resulting from any penalty called on a home team’s football stadium or the resounding chanting of “BULLSHIT” when a costly basketball foul is questionable to the “skilled” eyes of the mass fan bases? The relationship between fans and game officials is shaky at best–though usually fan disapproval of that “slightly fluctuating” strike zone is an opinion that cannot be considered by professional sports.

Monday night’s referee flub, which almost single-handedly reversed the outcome of the Seattle-Detroit game, reminded me of a number of recent events that have left me wondering whether or not it is time to reevaluate the power officials’ calls have over the outcome of games, and if we should do something about this ever-increasing margin of error.

In 2008, Major League Baseball became the fourth American sport to succumb to the instant replay, a practice that allows game officials to review tapes of various plays and potentially overturn initial calls if sufficient evidence exists. Initially, baseball’s instant replay could only be applied to questions of boundary calls for scoring plays (i.e. whether or not a ball fell to the left or right side of a foul poll, signaling a home run).  This change undermined a longstanding tradition of unquestioned respect umpires, but proved to be somewhat useful in making sure that pivotal plays weren’t misjudged.

In 2010, however, a tragedy occurred that the MLB’s instant replay system could not rectify. On June 2, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga reached pitching immortality: he pitched a perfect game. Why, you may ask, have you never seen this game on the record books? Because in the final play of the game, Cleveland Indians batter Jason Donald was inaccurately called safe at first place by umpire Jim Joyce. This game was the epitome of an official who singlehandedly changed the outcome of a game, as well as sports history.

We all know that no one is perfect, that even professionals make mistakes. But there was no instant replay to assist human error, and therefore Armando Galarraga will never have the official pitching perfection he deserves. In 2014, fortunately, Major League Baseball implemented a new instant replay system, which expanded replay capabilities to cover infield plays, fan interference plays and timing issues. Clearly, the MLB understood that because television angles can elucidate accurate calls to any average fan, it was time to make sure that officials had the same capabilities.

The NFL, however, seems to be a bit behind. Just in the last two weeks, the NFL has conceded that its referees either mistakenly issued or failed to issue penalties. Two weeks ago, a roughing the passer call against Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro arguably caused not only a huge momentum-shift but an extra touchdown by the Buccaneers. Shortly after the call, FOX rules analyst Mike Pereira stated that the call was unwarranted – Vaccaro didn’t actually do anything wrong.

And, Monday night, Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright illegally batted a fumbled football out of the end zone, effectively thwarting any chance for the Detroit Lions to capitalize on their impressive final drive. Officials, however, failed to call a penalty on Wright, which would have given the Lions a first down and an exponentially greater chance to score a touchdown—this call almost undoubtedly altered the game’s final outcome.

But under the rules of NFL replays, no replay could have been implemented to review the call even if a coach or official had noticed this violation…which, by the way, pretty much no one did…but I digress.

The NFL refuses to apply the instant replay to what it dubs “judgment calls,” as detailed in this ESPN article. Believing that the instant replay is “supplementary” to the refereeing, the NFL continues to have faith in its officials in judging the intention of players.

And while it’s cute that the NFL continues coddling its officials, contemporary technology is changing the way that fans watch games. The variety of camera angles and extensive analysis that is available to game-watchers just by turning on their televisions almost guarantees that fans can see the most accurate calls. Maybe 20 years ago, skepticism over calls could be overlooked, as the general population had to trust officials. But now, there’s no play that, under a minute or two of scrutiny in slow motion and a rulebook, can’t be called correctly.

The NFL needs to reevaluate the impact that technology is having on its fan-base—and make sure that officials are up to par. And if that means allowing an extra minute to review a so called “judgment” call every once in awhile, NFL fans would not object…after all, we want to see our teams win. We want to see ESPN highlights of game-altering, inhuman receptions and 90 yard kick-returns…we’re sick of highlight reels dominate by game-altering officiating errors. Because, well, that’s just not what the professional football is all about.

 



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