If play is allowed freely at sporting events, normal incidents of play such as bad snaps, missed passes, turnovers, penalties and play calls will inevitably fuel speculation, distrust and accusations of wasted points or game-fixing.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said these words, back when the NFL hated gambling. As the league now gets richer(er) through its association with sports betting, it needs to think about how these “normal incidents of the game” can create problems if not handled properly.
Transparency is obviously essential. For a level of sports that prides itself on setting the agenda, it lags woefully behind the UFL and several college conferences when it comes to pulling back the curtain on referees and allowing fans to understand why certain calls are made.
There is a distinct potential for unforced errors. The NFL has achieved one, in two different ways.
First, assuming someone in the league actually told Rams coach Sean McVay that defensive pass interference we shouldn’t have called on Los Angeles cornerback Josh Wallace with the game on the line, why would the league do this? Beyond the fact that the league threw the official who made the call under the bus, this was not an objective error.
Pass interference is a matter of judgment. It’s discretionary. And DPI’s fault seemed to fall within that discretion — especially since it seemed like the right call to us, given that Wallace used his forearm to push Broncos receiver Pat Bryant as the pass was coming.
Second, was McVay allowed to tell the world that the league admitted a mistake (if the league really did)? These communications are confidential. Last year, when Ravens coach John Harbaugh revealed that the league had admitted an objective error following unnecessary roughness resulting from a hit on Pittsburgh’s long snapper, Harbaugh specifically stated he had permission from the league to share this information.
McVay didn’t say that. It is possible that he contravened the league’s expectations that such discussions would not be disclosed.
Given the obvious connection between the call and the outcome, the NFL should not want a head coach to declare that the league office admitted an error. What’s next? A refund of all moneyline bets on the Rams?
It’s one thing for a normal incident in the game to fuel the tinfoil hat crowd. It is another thing to make an anomalous decision than to admit that a presumably accurate subjective decision was wrong. Beyond fueling conspiracy theories, this could trigger a long line of losing bettors demanding a refund.
Gn sports
