A few days ago, I blogged about one of the most prevalent issues in sports at the moment which is the issue with the replacement officials. One game in particular just sent fans, other teams and coaches over the edge. On September 24th the Monday Night football game was being played between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks. In the game there was only time for one more play as the Seahawks were down 7-12 and quarterback Russell Wilson threw a hail mary pass to the end zone. Now from here the rest of the story is pretty much up to interpretation.
From the video below, you can see that when landing with the ball both players have a hand on the ball. While it seems as though one of the Green Bay defenders has a better grip and hold on the ball, it was ruled that if both teams had possession of the ball, the tie breaker would go to the offense. With this rule being in place, the officials ruled it a touchdown and the Seahawks won the game. However, in many different angles we can see that the Seahawks player who caught the ball, Golden Tate, pushes off one of the Green Bay defenders sending him to the ground. If the officials called offensive pass interference like they should have, the play would have been called dead on the spot and it wouldn't have mattered who caught the football in the end zone.
Many fans, players and coaches are appauled and also angered by the poor job of the replacement officials. After the game, many Green Bay players tweeted about the lost and how it was surprising the NFL could let such a thing go on for so long. For the past 24 hours or so, the game has been the talk of almost every newspaper, newscast and sports show. It is amazing to see what one little play can do to a country and a league.
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