Perhaps the wildest play of Sunday's wild Colts-Chargers game was the interception by Colts linebacker Clint Session of a Phillip Rivers pass that touched four players and rolled off the leg of linebacker Gary Brackett in the end zone.
Session made an incredible diving catch and then ran the ball almost the length of the field before he was finally tackled at the Chargers' 7-yard line. But that return was called back because, it turned out, one of the officials had blown the play dead. It was a huge mistake by the official, and one that may very well have cost the Colts the game.
Today on NFL Network's Total Access, the league's head of officials, Mike Pereira, called blowing the play dead, "the worst mistake you can make." Pereira explained that the official who blew the play dead is in his first year in the NFL after a career officiating college football, and he forgot that the college football rule is different from the NFL rule in that players who dive to the ground to catch a pass are not down as soon as they catch it in the NFL but are down as soon as they catch it in college.
Pereira said he has told the official in the future that he should officiate without the whistle in his mouth so that he doesn't blow plays dead too quickly. Pereira said of the official who made the mistake, "Nobody feels worse." He then corrected himself and said, "Maybe the Colts feel worse."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-14-2007 @ 8:38PM
skepticslie said...
Yeah, I just watched that. Wow, this sucks.
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11-14-2007 @ 8:55PM
drysdale53 said...
colts still should of won that game regardless of that call!!! everything had to go wrong at the end of the game for the to lose it and it did what a shame... its funny how vinetari saved tom bradys butt but not peyton mannings in alot more easy situations too.
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11-14-2007 @ 9:34PM
sorcere said...
I guess the incessant whining, by the ever classy Colts organization, works wonders with league officials. Unsurprisingly, the Classy (religious anti-gay hate monger) Tony Dungy lead the charge. Normally the league fines team officials for publicly complaining about the officiating. Unless your the leagues darlings, the Colts.
In other news another picture, from MDS, featuring refs asses...seriously WTF?
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11-14-2007 @ 10:00PM
1ncarnadine said...
I think it's justly deserved for the Colts after the horrendous phantom PI calls against NE a week earlier.
Furthermore, whomever ran the ball all the way back to the 5 yard line might not have gotten that far if the play was not blown dead.
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11-15-2007 @ 12:44AM
wisdom1 said...
I cannot believe the haters.
First, AV missing that kick was the thing that lost it in the end, not that call. But if it's wrong it's wrong. Periera also called the refs out on a call in the Packers game too. He calls it wrong when it's wrong, right when it's right. Dungy asked for an explanation because the play was not dead, so why the whistle? You've been in the NFL for almost 30 years, they blatantly call something that has NEVER been done, and you can't even ask why?Turns out, he was right. They were wrong to uphold that call, but they stood by their "guy" on the field. Get real. Nobody's complaining. Dungy took responsibility for his called timeout, Manning took the same for the INT's, AV owned up to the missed kick, so nobody's whining. The Colts man'd up. Maybe the haters should too.
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11-15-2007 @ 2:22AM
jesusdelione said...
I don't think the ball would have ended up at the 7-yard-line had the play not been blown dead. NFL players are taught to go all out until the whistle blows. Sessions wouldn't have made it past the 50 if the play was still live.
Thanks for the ugliest W the bolts have seen in a while. We'll take it.
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11-15-2007 @ 9:12AM
nyc said...
#4.
Cue the Pats fans whining in 3...2....
Seriously, this game didnt even INVOLVE the Pats. STFU
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11-15-2007 @ 3:08PM
Karen said...
I THINK ALL THE OFFICAL SHOULD ALL GO BACK AND LEARN THE RULES AND ALL STINK
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11-15-2007 @ 3:30PM
tom stovall said...
Hey folks, its just a game. The players make errors in judgment, so do the coaches and so do the officials. You only hope the call you missed does not decide the game, or is perceived to decide the game. 99.9% of the time the game is decided on the field by the players. Missed calls by the officials will happen in every sport, no matter the level.
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11-15-2007 @ 4:04PM
gmar said...
Yeah, That stunk. That wasn't fair. They should of let that freaking go.
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11-15-2007 @ 8:42PM
1ncarnadine said...
#7
Thanks for politely telling me that if I don't have anything nice to say, not to say it at all
is your team as classy as you are, or are you gonna pout and put on your angry face when things don't go your way like cry baby manning
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1-14-2008 @ 3:06PM
Bob said...
Colts fans don't seam to care that the little girl they booed left the field crying what class. All they care about is that the one bad call but they seem to shrug when it comes to phantom PI calls or bad holding calls that take points off for the opposing team can you spell hypocrite
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