NOT EXPLAINING WHAT WAS NOT EXPLAINED DURING THE GAME. Pass interference issues arise all the time in the National Football League. More than half the plays from scrimmage are pass plays. It is remarkable to me that after the initial protests that the referees on the field did not explain why the call was being reversed, journalists made no protest (as far as I have seen) when the chief of officials took the position that EITHER call by the two referees would have been correct. He did not explain what factors should enter into making the correct decision—which would serve to guide referees and players in future games. Here is a story by Frank Schwab on Yahoo! which quotes the chief of officials as saying: “”You can debate if it’s pass interference,”
I posted here about how Mark Harris wrote a baseball novel in which the players passed the time in hotel lobbies playing TEGWAR (“The Exciting Game Without Any Rulesâ€). The joke was on the kibitzers who would gather around and try to figure out the rules; the players would make up new rules continually to frustrate them.
The entire incident dramatizes the degree of uncertainty about sn important rule among football officials, retired officials, players, and announcers.