Pass replays? Please, let's kill that idea
Nickell Robey-Coleman suddenly a household name.
Well…
Names.
NFL fans continue arguing long into the night about a blatant pass interference penalty committed by the Rams’ Robey-Coleman.
It occurred in the final two minutes of regulation play in the NFC Championship Game against New Orleans, and it became significant within an hour for three reasons…
- Somehow, two well-positioned officials each chose to call nothing — even though Robey-Coleman clattered into Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis long before a late-arriving pass from QB Drew Brees became part of the play.
- The no-call forced the Saints to settle for a field goal — and a 23-20 lead — rather than a touchdown which likely would have clinched a game they ultimately lost in overtime.
- Perhaps most important in all of this, the NFL has confessed to the error, apologized to the Saints, and announced that its rules committee will look at the notion of adding possible pass interference to the list of plays that can be reviewed.
As we debate all the potential ramifications of Robey-Coleman’s play and what might actually come of it, there’s no question we can agree on one thing.
It was pass interference.
Textbook.
“Oh, hell, yeah,” Robey-Coleman told reporters immediately after the game. “That was P.I.”
THE REASON that Robey-Coleman was so sure he’d been guilty of the foul was that he’d intended to commit it.
Without getting too deep into the Xs and Os of the thing, Robey-Coleman began the play on the right side of the Rams secondary — but blasted Lewis way over on the left sideline.
The rest of the Rams had missed a bit of trickery from New Orleans, but Robey-Coleman alone realized that Lewis would be sneaking out of the backfield to the left on what’s called a “wheel route.”
So Robey-Coleman took off across the field like a sprinter, aiming for the wide-open Lewis with no care at all when or where a pass might arrive.
Then came the collision.
And a shocking absence of yellow flags on the turf.
Timberlake High Coach Roy Albertson was watching the game with millions of other Americans, and he quickly added another issue to what already has become an instant controversy.
“There really could have been two fouls on the play,” said Albertson, who has seen more than a few passes defended in a career now creeping up on 300 games.
“I thought the guy (Robey-Coleman) also hit the receiver helmet to helmet, which would be a separate penalty.”
WE ALL may come to rue that blown call.
Or calls.
What the NFL does not need is more stoppages in play.
“In the pros,” Albertson said, “with those athletes and some of the things they can do, there’s a fight for every ball.
“That pass interference (in the Saints-Rams game) was an exception. There are a whole lot more plays where guys are twisting their bodies, fighting for position, shoving, whatever.
“Replays would rarely be that easy.”
So close your eyes and imagine: How many more debatable plays would be coming into our living rooms if the NFL decided to make pass interference reviewable?
Albertson might as well have been speaking for the entire football-viewing universe when he said: “Boy, do we really want these games any longer than they are now, with all the commercials?
“It feels like they go on forever as it is.”
But Coach, wouldn’t the networks agree to cut some revenue if a few pass interference plays are called correctly?
Cue up a belly laugh on that one.
You know, the league’s massive income stream might actually save us here.
Four-hour games would cost the NFL a bundle.
As Michael Douglas’ character Gordon Gekko said in the movie “Wall Street”…
“Greed is good.”
Steve Cameron has been covering sports at all levels — from high schools to the Olympics — for more than 30 years, and he is the author of 13 sports books.
Steve’s sports columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and his “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball runs on Tuesdays.
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Email: scameron@cdapress.com