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There's burying the lede for no sensible reason, then there's what long-time NFL referee Carl Cheffers did during the chaotic ending between the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
With the Lions facing a fourth-and-goal play for the win, veteran playmaker Amon-Ra St. Brown caught the ball short of the goal line. But before he was tackled, St. Brown managed to execute a successful lateral to Jared Goff, who rumbled into the end zone for the supposed game-winning touchdown.
Lions win, and everyone in Detroit goes home happy, right? Wrong.
The problem is that there was a flag on the play as St. Brown lateraled the ball. The assumption by CBS's watching announcers, Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, was that the Lions had been called for offensive pass interference, which obviously would nullify any ensuing touchdown and end the game right then and there in favor of the Steelers, given the fourth-down context.
After much discussion about the sequence, Cheffers turned on his microphone to speak to an antsy stadium full of Lions fans and the millions watching at home. He chose to explain that the Lions didn't, in fact, score an all-time game-winning touchdown in the most heartbreaking, backward way possible and that they actually lost.
I'm still laughing about this delivery:
Why even mention the touchdown at the start if your ultimate ruling is that it doesn't count because of an offensive penalty? You give out unnecessary hope like that with that word order. It's like the Arrested Development doctor using a much more common choice of words to say something else while actually delivering bad news. Make it plain and just say the thing right way, man.
It's offensive pass interference, and the game is over. Done. That shouldn't be so hard.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Ref called Lions' game-losing penalty in stupidest possible way
Continue reading...
With the Lions facing a fourth-and-goal play for the win, veteran playmaker Amon-Ra St. Brown caught the ball short of the goal line. But before he was tackled, St. Brown managed to execute a successful lateral to Jared Goff, who rumbled into the end zone for the supposed game-winning touchdown.
Lions win, and everyone in Detroit goes home happy, right? Wrong.
The problem is that there was a flag on the play as St. Brown lateraled the ball. The assumption by CBS's watching announcers, Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, was that the Lions had been called for offensive pass interference, which obviously would nullify any ensuing touchdown and end the game right then and there in favor of the Steelers, given the fourth-down context.
After much discussion about the sequence, Cheffers turned on his microphone to speak to an antsy stadium full of Lions fans and the millions watching at home. He chose to explain that the Lions didn't, in fact, score an all-time game-winning touchdown in the most heartbreaking, backward way possible and that they actually lost.
I'm still laughing about this delivery:
Why even mention the touchdown at the start if your ultimate ruling is that it doesn't count because of an offensive penalty? You give out unnecessary hope like that with that word order. It's like the Arrested Development doctor using a much more common choice of words to say something else while actually delivering bad news. Make it plain and just say the thing right way, man.
It's offensive pass interference, and the game is over. Done. That shouldn't be so hard.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Ref called Lions' game-losing penalty in stupidest possible way
Continue reading...
