An Outraged Football Fan

When I was 12, I frequently was asked to visit the homes of church members as part of my duties as a deacon (a calling given to boys who are between the ages of 12-14). One day, I visited a member who was watching football. The Bills were playing the Eagles, and I watched as Randall Cunningham scampered around in his own endzone for what seemed like forever, breaking tackles and avoiding the safety; then, he fired a pass about sixty yards down the field into the hands of rookie-receiver Fred Barnett. Barnett took the ball the last 40 yards into the endzone for an unforgettable 95-yard touchdown pass. I was mesmerized. I have been a huge NFL fan, and Philadelphia Eagles fan, ever since.

Since that day, I have had very few reasons to ever question the integrity of the game, until tonight. Watching the Super Bowl, I was very concerned about three controversial calls that shifted the momentum of the game. Now, I'm not the type to question officials, especially in the NFL. I believe that they do a very good job, but tonight, they messed up.

In the first quarter of the Super Bowl, Matt Hassleback threw a touchdown pass that was negated by a pass interference call. The call was wrong. The receiver did touch the defender while the ball was in the air, but he just touched him. That shouldn't have been called in a preseason game, let alone the Super Bowl. The normally reserved Steve Young even commented on the poor officiating of this particular play. Seattle had to settle for a field goal as a result.

Then, in what I thought was the key moment of the game, I believe that the officials made two crucial mistakes. In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks were driving into Steelers territory, preparing to take the lead. Hassleback completed a pass to the one-yard line that was called back for holding. On review, there was no holding. Even John Madden agreed that the officials got it wrong.

On the very next play, Hassleback threw an interception, an interception that should never have happened if it wasn't for the holding call. During the return of the interception, Hassleback made a touchdown-saving tackle by throwing himself into the knees of the ball carrier. He was rewarded for this fine play with a 15-yard penalty for a chop block. Last time I checked, a chop block only exists if the person you are hitting DOESN'T HAVE THE BALL!!! If officials are going to penalize tackles that occur below the waist, football doesn't exist anymore.

It turns out that the interception and the 15-yard penalty led to the 11-point lead for the Steelers that could not be overcome. Kudos to the Steelers for holding the lead, but they got a little help from the men in stripes.

Like I said, I'm an Eagles' fan who had nothing riding on this game but the soda that I bet with one of my students, no big deal. However, as a football fan, I'm very disappointed at the way the game was handled at key moments by the officials. I'm not saying that Seattle would have won, but the complexion of the game certainly would have changed had the officials done their jobs.

My two cents,
Jeff