I don’t follow football, but the horrific error story caught my attention. How stupid of the Commissioner as well as the refs! If the Commissioner agrees the refs were wrong, why can’t the game be replayed from the point of the incident forward? Or, if it was near the end of the game, why not just adjust the final score accordingly? (Or, did the Commissioner have too much riding on this game???) C’Mon, NFL!!! - Jinx
As a general rule, the NFL has no formal protest procedure and doesn’t replay games no matter how bad the officials were.
In the aftermath of the Giants-49ers game, the NFL did say there were some situations where a game could be replayed, but it would have to be a situation where there was some outright fraud or some other catastrophic situation (field falls apart).
If so, then why does the NFL need a Commissioner? Let’s face it, sports fans, you’ve been duped again! They just love you for the $$$$
- Jinx
It’ll be a fine day when an NFL game has no audience! (Make the pros work for a living, folks!)
Well, it’s highly impractical to replay a football game. It is done occassionally (I should say rarely) in baseball because it is not as difficult logisitically.
I recall one NBA game that was protested and replayed and I think the league did that because there was only one a second or two left to replay and it was convenient to make up.
Ah yes, BobT, you refer to that memorable Bulls game from the 1960’s when nobody could read the antique analogue clock in the old Chicago Stadium, and they thought the game was over when there was really one second left. It was one of the great moments in Chicago sports history!
Both Major League Baseball and the NBA have formal procedures in place for protesting games. Most protests require that the game be replayed from the point where the erroneous call was made; for example, in the NY-SF game, you’d have to give NY the “extension down” and another attempt at a FG. In baseball and basketball, that’s reasonably practical–it’s a long season, teams play each other several times in the course of a season, and even the playoff series involve multiple games. For football, it just wouldn’t work.
Actually I was thinking of a Lakers-Spurs game in the early 1980s that the Lakers “won” in double OT in San Antonio. The Lakers caught a break in the first OT with a few seconds left when the officials messed up a call when both teams committed a lane violation on a Norm Nixon free throw (Nixon threw a head fake and everyone went into the lane). The officials called for a jump ball and the Lakers controlled it, scored a basket, and then won in the next OT.
However, the proper call after a double lane violation is to just shoot the free throw over. So a couple of months later, the game was replayed from that point and San Antonio won the game.
In baseball, the chance of a game that would involve a protest in the playoffs is pretty much zero. There is always some high ranking person from the Commissioner’s Office at the game and they would likely make the decision on the spot. And with six umpires around, some weird rules situation would be resolved.
Once the game is over, it’s over.
As has been pointed out by several sports writers, the Giants really don’t have much of a case. They couldn’t hold a 24 point lead. If they hadn’t decided they had the game won and quit playing, the field goal play wouldn’t have made any difference and probably wouldn’t have even happened.
But…but…you don’t care about football
OK, nevermind. I take it back–you do care.
Also, the Giants game protest would have been based on the refs missing a call (i.e., not calling pass interference – it was there, but no one threw a flag). I don’t know any sport where you can protest and get a replay just because the official misses the call. There has to be a misinterpretation of the rules.
As my cousin said last year becuase of the raiders/patriots fiasco
"The WWF has better refs that the nfl "
Whats worse is last season theyt got a pay raise that did or just doubled what they were making
What gets me is is the missed calls for roughness that there supposed to enforce as in sundays game I seen 5 or 6 probable late hits various facee masks ect
Those are the more improtant ones as people could get hurt badly
The fact that the Giants lost a 24pt lead is irrelevant to the situation, David. They played well enough early in the game to create that lead, and the 49ers played poorly enough to give it up. Fact is, if the call was made correctly, the Giants would have had another shot at a FG, this is FACT, admitted to by the commisioners office. All of the events leading up to that point are history.
Other games have been replayed, and it would have been possible for them to replay that one down. They would have had to make the decision immediately, though.
A reasonable counter to your points is not available, so why am I having trouble feeling empathy for the Giants?
This talk of replaying reminds me of an incident at a UMass-Rutgers basketball game I went to. Protesters had a sit-in on the court at halftime and wouldn’t leave, so the game was continued a month later at a neutral site (Philadelphia).
It has a lot to do with the fact that there is SO MUCH going on in football - it has far more penalties between far more players in far more plays than other sports - if they allowed a game to be replayed because a revised call after the fact, EVERY SINGLE close game would be replayed because of an officiating call at some point in the game. Players hold on nearly EVERY play. There is pass interference EVERYWHERE that isn’t caught. Teams frequently snap a half second after the play clock hits 0 (The Jets did this twice in a row early in the Raiders game)… hell, half of it is the simple fact that refs need to have their calls be seen as standing.
When it comes down to it, every penalty is their interpretation. The line between holding and not holding can be very thin… like the line between pass interference, etc. How do you call someone in or out of bounds? When are you down by touch if you are bumped but keep going and slip on a patch of mud 2 steps later, then get u pand run for a game winning touchdown? If the refs don’t see a time out called at the last second, that is your tough luck. Perhaps you should think about calling a time out before the play clock runs down to 1. That is the risk you take. If you throw to a reciever at the 3 yard line, and he is knocked on his ass, the penalty is called and treated normally.
Baseball is so incredibly laid back compared to football and basketball that it hardly compares.
And the NFL needs a commissioner for the same reason other sports do - to make and regulate rules and rules changes, as well as the teams, team regulations, etc.
And New England can blow Oakland. Lucky ass SOBs. Forward pass my ass. 
Was the “tuck rule” (correctly applied in the New England-Oakland “fiasco”, BTW) changed during this past off-season?
It was not changed during the off-season.
Thanks, Frank.
Well, it’s still better than the NHL which only loves me because of my huge penis.
I still am angry about the Yankee/Bosox playoffs in several years ago where bad calls were made by umps in two separate games which essentially killed the Bosox’s chance to get to the World Series.
One call was so blatantly unfair that fans threw stuff out on the field and delayed the game.
I don’t remember the baseball commissioner apologizing for that one.
You and me both, beajerry. That was disgraceful (I mean, both the calls and the fans’ reaction).
However, you can’t blame the New England/Oakland thing on the refs. They applied and enforced the rule correctly, though you may disagree that the rule is a good one.