Watch Live: Congressional Hearing on IRS Scandal

Live Now on TheBlaze Radio: ‘The Buck Sexton Show’

Sports

Watch an NFL Coach Get So Upset With a Replacement Ref He Grabs Him After the Game

Sep. 24, 2012 8:10am Jonathon M. Seidl

Patriots Coach Bill Belichick Grabs Ref After Game

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots yells at an official. Credit: Getty Images

(TheBlaze/AP) — Replacement officials are getting to Bill Belichick, too. And it’s likely to cost him at least in the pocket book.

The New England Patriots coach grabbed the arm of an official as they were leaving the field Sunday night after rookie John Tucker’s last-second field goal barely sneaked inside the right upright, giving Baltimore a 31-30 victory.

Despite the outburst, Belichick said he doesn’t expect to be fined for making contact with the official, although that usually is NFL policy.

“I’m not going to comment about that. You saw the game,” Belichick said in his postgame news conference. “What did we have, 30 penalties called in that game?”

Actually, it was 10 for 83 yards, fewer than the Ravens’ 14 for 135 yards.

“It’s our job to go out there and control what we can control,” Belichick added. “That’s what we’re going to try to work on. Talk to the officials about the way they called the game. Talk to the league about the way they called it. I don’t know. But we just have to go out there and try to play the best we can.”

The kick was close, but replays clearly showed it was good.

Making matters worse is that the NFL took the bold move of warning coaches early in the week not to berate the replacement officials.

“We’re not gonna tolerate it,” NFL Executive Vice President Ray Anderson said about the memo. “And we expect that everyone we talked to pass word on to everyone involved on the sideline that we expect there to be a respect for what’s going on.”

According to those standards, Belichick could be in trouble.

But that wasn’t the only drama of the week. The NFL’s week 3 produced suspect calls during several games, even as the league and the locked out officials’ union met.

Two people familiar with the talks said the sides held negotiations Sunday. It was uncertain whether progress was made in an attempt to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, or when further negotiations would take place.

The two people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the talks are not being made public.

The NFL locked out the officials in June after their contract expired. The league has been using replacement officials, and through three weeks of the regular season there has been much criticism over the way some games are being handled.

Particularly on Sunday.

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 23: A referee seperates players from the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens in the first half at M&T Bank Stadium on September 23, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. Credit: Getty Images

Replacement officials admitted making two mistakes in Minnesota’s victory over San Francisco, while a few other games included questionable calls that could have affected the outcomes.

Referee Ken Roan said he twice granted 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh video challenges after Harbaugh called timeout in the fourth quarter. Neither challenge should have been allowed once Harbaugh asked for time.

“What I told him was, `Well you challenged it not knowing what the result of the play was going to be,’” Roan said. “So I granted him the challenge and we went and looked at it. That was wrong. I should not have.”

Both mistakes happened in the span of six plays in Minnesota’s 24-13 upset of the 49ers.

“My interpretation of it was that he could do that based upon the time factors and not knowing it was a challengeable play to begin with when he called timeout,” Roan said. “If you don’t have a timeout to lose, you can’t make a challenge.”

Earlier Sunday, the NFL players’ union sent an open letter to team owners calling for an end to the lockout.

In the Lions-Titans and Bengals-Redskins games, officials marched off too much yardage on penalties.

Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch’s helmet-to-helmet hit on Craig Stevens wound up as a 27-yard penalty in Tennessee’s 44-41 overtime win. In OT, from the Titans 44, Jake Locker passed to Stevens over the middle for a 24-yard gain and Tulloch was flagged for the hit. Fourteen yards were added to the end of the play, which then was reviewed and overturned because the ball hit the ground.

However, the penalty still is enforced. Instead of 15 yards, officials marked it off from the Detroit 44 – the wrong spot.

“As soon as the play was declared incomplete it becomes a first down and it becomes 15 yards from the play before,” Lions coach Jim Schwartz said.

The Redskins were penalized 20 yards instead of 15 for unsportsmanlike conduct in the final seconds of their 38-31 loss.

Robert Griffin III spiked the ball to stop the clock with 7 seconds left. Then tight end Fred Davis was called for a 5-yard false start penalty.

According to Washington coach Mike Shanahan, at least one official indicated there would be a 10-second runoff, ending the game – and the Bengals, led by coach Marvin Lewis, started walking onto the field. There shouldn’t have been a runoff, though, because the clock had been stopped by the spike. The Redskins began arguing, and eventually the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called.

The officials never announced specifically who the call was against, just that the penalty would be added to the false start, a total of 20 yards. But they walked off 25 yards – the official game play-by-play said 20 yards were enforced for the unsportsmanlike conduct.

That left the Redskins with a third-and-50.

“They threw the flag at us, and there was half of the (Bengals) team on the field,” Shanahan said. “I was disappointed in that.”

The players’ union posted an open letter to team owners calling on them to end the lockout of the regular officials that began four months ago. The NFL used replacements in 2001 for one week before a new deal was reached.

This year, criticism from coaches and players has mounted for the replacements, who come from lower college levels or from other leagues such as Arena Football.

There have been numerous complaints by players and coaches – certainly more than when the regular officials work – and Sunday was no different. In one particularly embarrassing episode, an official was removed from working a New Orleans game last week because he posted photos of himself in Saints gear on Facebook.

Then there were more questionable decisions Sunday:

-At Nashville, with 16 seconds remaining in regulation, Detroit’s Shaun Hill threw to Nate Burleson on the sideline and he then lost the ball. It looked to be a completion then a fumble because the side judge threw his beanie, but another official ruled an incomplete pass. Titans CB Alterraun Verner had grabbed the ball and started to run and there were questions why the replay booth didn’t review it.

-Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo fumbled twice on plays in the third quarter that weren’t initially ruled turnovers until challenged by Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano.

First, Romo was in the grasp of Gerald McCoy with his right arm extended, when he flicked the ball forward in what was initially ruled an incomplete pass. Officials watched the replay and determined the ball was loose when Romo tried to push it out, and called it a fumble recovered by Gary Gibson at the 19.

Later, Michael Bennett sacked Romo and knocked the ball loose, but officials quickly whistled the play dead and Romo down even as Eric Wright ran toward the end zone with the football.

After Schiano challenged, officials reversed it to a fumble recovered at the 31, and the Bucs failed to score.

“They blew it dead. But the refs are doing a great job,” McCoy said. “A lot of people are complaining. We’ve got what we got. Everyone needs to accept it. They’re trying their hardest. No ref wants to go out there and make a bad call.”

-Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was taken to the hospital with a neck injury after a helmet-to-helmet hit from Steelers safety Ryan Mundy that was not penalized.

Heyward-Bey was running across the end zone early in the fourth quarter to catch a pass from Carson Palmer when Mundy launched his body and lowered his helmet into Heyward-Bey’s facemask. Heyward-Bey’s neck jerked violently and his head also crashed into the ground. The pass was incomplete.

“Once again, the refs missed it, like they always do,” Oakland defensive tackle Tommy Kelly said.

-Dolphins tight end Anthony Fasano was ruled to have made a catch near the Jets’ goal line and the call was held up after review, even though the ball touched the ground as he was tackled.

“Well, I think the fact that we have to talk about it after every game is something right there,” Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway said. “I don’t think in my seven-year career that I’ve had to do that ever. So that probably tells you the story right there.”

—

AP Sports Writers Antonio Gonzalez, Josh Dubow, Jon Krawczynski, Teresa M. Walker, Stephen Hawkins, Howard Fendrich and Joseph White contributed to this story.

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (69)

hades3
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 11:11am
Collective bargaining in any profession leads to the the public at large , paying more and more for everything.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Conservative2
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 1:22pm
  new link to video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaSQwryIYpo
  
  Report this comment
- U.N.hater
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 1:24pm
  I say leave the ref’s alone. Now go and replace the player’s with nonunion player’s so i can watch again. Never support a union…
  
  Report this comment
- bronco83
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 2:21pm
  Ya it`s better to pay less and starve workers so CEO`S can make 700 times more then wage earners. Wake up before we have nothing but cheap goods yuo won`t be able to pay for. The Wallmart plan for America that lets the Waltons get more and workers need GOVERNMENT to stay alive,FOOLS !!!!!
  
  Report this comment
- black9897
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 3:41pm
  I hate the Pats. They are such babies. Tom (overrated) Brady crys to the refs all the time. I will never have any respect for him or the pats.
  
  Report this comment
Meggars53
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:55am
Any contact with an official is illegal. Players have been tossed for accidentally contacting an official. Belichick should be heavily fined and tossed for one game. But, this is Billy-boy and the Patriots which means nothing will happen.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- 13th Imam
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 11:35am
  The two consecutive penalties called toward the end of the first half, a holding call then a offensive pass interference call were bogus. Both were played back and neither was a possible penalty. It was like watching a Red Sox -Yankee game played at Yankee Stadium.
  
  Report this comment
- getitgotitgood
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 12:29pm
  I quit watching NFL along time ago. Just look at these spoiled rotten punks and the way they act .. All of them disgusting.
  
  Report this comment
- mersey
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 1:10pm
  Every football fan in the country except for those in New England knows that there is a Brady rule. You can’t touch Brady without getting a penality called against you. Someone needs to explain this to the replacement refs.
  
  Report this comment
mcsledge
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:40am
I don’t know the official ruling when it goes above the pole, but based on what I saw the ball would have nipped the inside part of the pole and bounced through the uprights (i.e., it was not directly over the pole). I stand behind the refs call unless other angles exist that can prove otherwise.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
forthepeople
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:14am
From the guy who was caught Cheating !
Lip reading , stealing play books and spying on the other team .
My Grandfather always said
” You can always tell the thief & dishonest man for he is the first to react and complain ” .
Soooo True …..

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Gonzo
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:13am
I’m not that unhappy with the replacement refs. All in all they are doing pretty well. Are they as good yet? No, but give them a month and they will be. The sports media needs to calm down about it.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- M-Theory
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 12:34pm
  I agree with you. Without them, the games wouldn’t even be played. Why have we forgotten that both teams are playing with the same refs? Whether the refs are still getting up to speed or not, they are there making the game happen and both teams are subject to their calls…and they will get better. The teams and especially the coaches need to shut-up about the refs and play ball.
  
  Report this comment
- hold_my_stones
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 5:37pm
  Yea, they are doing OK, there have been a few bush league calls but overall not bad. Hope the NFL keeps them busy and tells the ones on strike & their union to get screwed. No one shuld get paid $80-100K plus to officiate a sports game. That goes for baseball umps, basket ball, hockey atc.
  
  next its time to break the palyers and ween them off of these rediculous salaries
  
  Report this comment
stone2016
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:08am
I think the NFL should require all their coach to officiate for one year. Let’s see how well they do.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
khadijahbintmuhammad
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:01am
Belichek being pissed at a referee is not news.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Cavallo
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:19am
  Assault and Battery is news though. Just because you are on a sporting field doesn’t give you the right to act like a common street thug or spoilt child. Why these people get away with behavior that would have the average fan on the street in jail is beyond me, it is downright sickening. This goes back to include the Saints and their bounties for injuring players. If I paid some thug to kneecap my opponent as he’s coming out of a supermarket I’d be serving 5-10 years in the State Pen.
  
  Report this comment
- truthnstuff
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:36am
  CAVALLO, are you a cretin? Assault and battery??? He tried to talk to him and did what most people do when they are walking away…..he grabbed his arm….for a second!!!! Watch the video!!!!!!!
  
  Typical of “journalists” to hype the headlines in a dishonest way. This is just as dishonest as the MSM.
  
  Report this comment
scrudge
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:01am
Ah Yes….. the n f l …. NATIONAL FELONS LEAGUE.. even the coaches

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
dadsrootbeer
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:56am
So the cheater is upset at the refs. Ha, ha. Hope the loses keep piling up.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
abeliever2010
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:37am
Hummm another distraction for hundreds of thousands and an excuse to get drunk, act foolish and have absolutely no clue what is happening to them in our country. Lol enjoy the game, the real thing is coming soon to a field near you.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- stone2016
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:06am
  Totally agree!! What a shame, people are actually trying to enjoy life. I mean…come on people!! Why are having a good time when we should be completely consumed by our impending doom?
  
  Report this comment
- OneTermPresident
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:07am
  It’s a nice one a week break from all the negative news we’re bombarded with during the week. Sounds like you could use one too.
  
  Report this comment
- Fried Okra
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 11:53am
  As a NFL season ticket holder… you are clueless @abeliever2010 about what goes on inside the studium.
  
  Exactly right STONE2016… I guess we should just stay at home on our couch packing freeze dried food and bullets.
  
  Report this comment
lefthook37
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:32am
Ya need to be grabing those over payed under proforming players you see on the field every sunday and this deal about replacement Ref’s is deal with it…if it were up to me the other ones would be fired..your already going into the 4th game and they are still far apart…these guys have other jobs …like Law dogs, Doctors and the such…….YALL didn’t know that did ya

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Exidor
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:30am
Belichcik needs to grow up. He’s just PO’d that they didn’t get a chance to cheat.

I’d fine his a$$ into oblivion and make an example out of him.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- landman1
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:46am
  So what! There are new refs calling the game. So let’s play. Seems like only the losing team is griping. The Patriots won last week and not a word from them about the officiating. The team they beat had gripes but not Coach Bill. He took his win and ran. This week he loses so it’s the ref’s fault. Ravens are tickled to death. No gripes from them. Ironic
  
  Report this comment
biohazard23
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:27am
Go Ravens!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- cerebralyawn
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 10:16am
  Yes!
  
  Report this comment
- edmundburk
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 2:49pm
  my 2 favorite teams are thew Colts and who ever beats the Patriots……..:)
  
  Report this comment
FightingBear
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:23am
I thought this Sunday’s games were much more entertaining than the NFL has been in recent memory.

These new refs were willing to let these guys play….yes, a few bad calls…but overall, the fact that they were willing to let the guys get in there and scrap it out without tossing flags on every play was refreshing.

There were a few instances when I thought it was the 1960′s again and the players were playing for pride and love of the game instead of playing for a big payday.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
dimitrisokolov
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:19am
The Patriots just let the Ravens cruise down the field and get into field goal position without doing anything about it. Furthermore, if the Pats were any good they would have been ahead by more than two in the first place. Its not the refs fault, the coach needs to look in the mirror to see the source of his problems.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Brushjumper
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:10am
The coaches and players are acting like JACKASSES. Anyone touching a REF should immediately be ejected from the game and massively fined, along with the team. Start throwing these IDIOTS out of the game and the **** will stop period.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Critters58
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:01am
Actually I feel like the refs were being honest for the first time in years! They are human and did their best. Men need to grow up for a change! Football is not that important in the scheme of life!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
ireport uderide
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:00am
The first time one of these overwrought sideline cheerleaders lose their marbles the replacement crew chief should toss him. In almost every game I’ve seen on TV this year, a lot of the players and many of the coaches have turned to taunting the officials.
“YOUR, OUTTA HERE!!
Problem solved.

The same thing goes for the talking heads in the booth. Some of you, your colleague’s know who you are, suck worst than the replacements. CC, Boomer, Costas. Except we’re stuck with you.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
lel2007
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 8:58am
CLASS in professional sports is a virtue long lost. I stopped watching football when the endzone antics started.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- bronco83
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 2:24pm
  Ya who wants to watch BLACKS score TD`s, right !!!
  
  Report this comment
AM_Punk3d
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 8:56am
Coaches will always be coaches, it was still a good game since I was rooting for New England.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
NewLife56
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 8:42am
Grabbed him? a little strech isn’t it?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
mchubinsky28
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 8:40am
I was very surprised that the article had a pro-union spin…that is until I saw at the bottom that the AP contributed to the report!

And what a huge surprise that the player’s union is supporting the refs union. 3 things to note:

1) The replacements will get better with time and experience;
2) The locked-out officials weren’t very good anyway;
3) The owners will hopefully stay strong and not cave to an unnecessary union.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- ireport uderide
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:03am
  Can you imagine what it’s like to be a locked out NFL official sitting at home screaming at the TV every time a replacement ref makes a bad call.
  Ironic, isn’t it?
  
  Report this comment
Josiah13
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 8:40am
who cares?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- bloomytoad
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:34am
  A lot of people do. Just because you don’t doesn’t mean that is not important to millions of others. Stop being so egotistical. If you don’t care, just don’t read the story and move on with your life.
  
  Report this comment
- RRFlyer
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:35am
  Apparently a lot of people, considering they wrote an article about it and people are commenting. THe world doesn’t revolve around your interests, Josiah13
  
  Report this comment
00gabooga
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 8:35am
Considering how much he benefited from the “Tuck Rule”he has a lot of nerve to complain about the refs.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- SLAPTHELEFT
  Posted on September 24, 2012 at 9:08am
  Yup.
  
  Report this comment
B-45
Posted on September 24, 2012 at 8:25am
Per the second paragraph, Baltimore’s kicker is Justin Tucker, not John Tucker…Justin Tucker from The University of Texas…

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.