# Football Error Uncorrected? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439 "2003-01-14T02:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/21 "2003-01-15T05:35:39Z")
Heres a thought… They should have a fining system for the refs just as they do the players the fines can be minor or they can be big depending on the situation … At leats theyed be more careful The head of the refs or a comittiee can watch the games and decide appropiate fines ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/22 "2003-01-15T12:18:23Z")
Look, in any given game there will be tens, if not hundreds of calls missed. On any given snap, the odds are pretty good that somebody it holding; it doesn’t get called because there are only so many refs, and they can only see so much of the field at once. So you don’t get an extra chance to win just because the ref missed something. Too bad. It’s not like this is baseball, where there’s multiple guys to watch a play that usually involves only three people or so. Hey, in every sport getting away with penarlties is an art form. If we stop to review every play (or even every critical play) to check that _nobody_ committed a penalty that the refs didn’t call, the game would still be going on. ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/23 "2003-01-15T12:26:36Z")
They wouldnt replay it - why? 1 - Its so easy to get you stars injured in football. Moreover, football is more exhausting and physically demanding than many sports. 2 - As has been said before, football games are logically dificult to organize. 3 - When would you play it? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/24 "2003-01-15T13:07:13Z")
Reality check for **RealityChuck** : The flag was thrown. The receiver who was fouled was then decided–incorrectly–to be an ineligible receiver. What seems to be the case is that his normal position was tackle. I assume they put tackles or guards on the ends for a place kick, since they would be better blockers. In any case, this guy was actually the end on that play and was an eligible receiver. Moreover, the referees had been notified that he would be an eligible receiver on place kicks. But in the heat of the moment they forgot and ruled him ineligible. By the time the Giants coach realized it, the field was full of spectators and the referee gave up. Another error was apparently misunderstanding of the rules by the referee. Even if there were two penalties, the rules apparently require the play to be played over. Basically, there was a breakdown of order on and off the field. The fact that one team had blown a 24 point lead is utterly irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/25 "2003-01-15T13:36:38Z")
The replay element of this thread reminds me of the famous pine tar game in 1983, George Brett hits a home run, then is ruled out because of the complaint by Yankees coach Billy Martin, too much pine tar on the bat. The Royals lose the game, then the league overrules and the game is completed from that point a month later, with the Royals winning. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/26 "2003-01-15T13:42:22Z")
I wasn’t talking about the ineligible receiver call. I was talking about the pass interference call that wasn’t made. The ineligible receiver call was a mistake. However, it did not affect the outcome. The correct action on the part of the refs would be to say the flag was thrown by mistake. This meant the play stood. Game over. So there’s no grounds for a replay on that basis. The Giant’s argument was that there also was pass interference. If there were both pass interference and and ineligible receiver, the two penalties would offset and the play would be run over. But pass interference was never called. So there are no offsetting penalties. Game over. Further, for there to be offsetting penalties, then the ineligible receiver penalty has to stand. If the refs had called for a replay on the basis of offsetting penalties, they would have been wrong. The Giants would _want_ the refs to forget that the receiver was eligible. If not, then only the pass interference call would have stood. I’m not sure of the rules in that situation. The Giants would have been given the football at the point of the foul, but the clock would have run out. They may have been allowed one more play, though. Ultimately, though, the fact that the pass interference call was never made makes all this discussion moot. You cannot get a replay on an error in judgement in any sport. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/27 "2003-01-15T15:14:36Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. Absolutely correct. I’m tired of sportscasters, sportswriters, and even Al Davis spouting off about what a terrible call it was, and how Oakland was robbed. The rule was enforced 100% correctly as it was written. You certainly are free to say that the rule itself is bad, but to blame the refs for Oakland’s loss, or to say that the Pats benefited from a “lucky call” is wrong. They were the recipient of the proper call, plain and simple. Then they were able to march down the field, not once but twice, to win the game. That’s what the Raiders fans should be upset about. And boo hoo for the New Yorkers who had a call go against them in the SF vs. NYG game. After enough phantom tags and Jeffrey Meyers, it’s about flippin’ time. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/28 "2003-01-15T17:53:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\* > If not, then only the pass interference call would have stood. > > I’m not sure of the rules in that situation. The Giants would have been given the football at the point of the foul, but the clock would have run out. They may have been allowed one more play, though. > \*\* The game cannot end on a defensive penalty. The Giants would’ve had one more chance. This is also why teams will hail-Mary into the endzone, hoping for a defensive pass interference call to put the ball on the one and give them a shot at a touchdown or fieldgoal (depending on what they might need). ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/29 "2003-01-15T18:27:23Z")
There **was** an ineligible receiver downfield in the Niners/Giants game - Tom Hopkins, #65. He lined up at the left guard position, and was correctly flagged by three officials for being downfield when the pass was thrown. Rich Seubert, #69, was the intended receiver of the pass. As folks have said, he was eligible (he lined up eligible and properly reported in). The penalty on the Giants (ineligible man downfield - #65) was called, **and correctly so**. The penalty on the 49ers (pass interference on Chike Okeafor) was not called. According to the league, it should have been. What should have happened was offsetting penalties, and a replay of the down (untimed). [NFL’s statement](http://www.superbowl.com/news/story/6107457). [hypothetical] Had Hopkins **not** been illegally downfield, and had the officials properly called Okeafor for pass interference, then the Giants would have gotten one untimed down from the spot of that foul - around the 5 yard line, I believe. [/hypothetical] ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439/30 "2003-01-15T18:38:32Z")
When you consider that Colorado University won a football game once against Missouri when it scored on FIFTH down (which everyone realized soon after and agreed happened) and that game’s result was not overturned, you should realize that what happened to the Giants had even less chance of being overturned. The NFL doesn’t say whether or not you can use instant replay to challenge what down it is. Presumably this is something which the coach doesn’t need to do that. You just have to yell a lot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-error-uncorrected/148439.md?page=1)