NFL says no officiating controversy in weird Browns-Redskins fumble
Sometimes, it’s better to admit a mistake and move on.
Instead, the NFL doubled down on a play that most people seem to believe was a blown call.
On Sunday, Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson fumbled. There was a scrum, but almost immediately Johnson was standing aside the pile holding the ball in the air. But while he held the ball, official Sarah Thomas started pointing to her right, indicating the Redskins recovered. In case you missed it, here’s what it looked like:
The NFL went on the offensive Monday, saying you didn’t really see what you think you saw. Here was a tweet from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:
#Browns debated Duke Johnson fumble was reviewed today. There is no evidence of a CLE player recovering it in the pile. Just out of the pile
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 3, 2016
The play (here: https://t.co/GH35FW1kTC) was ruled a WAS recovery. There’s no view of Johnson recovering it. Call was made before he emerged
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 3, 2016
That last part isn’t necessarily true. Johnson is holding the ball before Thomas first indicates Washington recovered. The two screen shots above show that. Thomas is still approaching the pile as Johnson comes out with the ball. The first tweet also seems a bit odd because of course there’s no evidence of a Cleveland player recovering in the pile — Johnson clearly had the ball outside the pile. NFL Network discussed the play on Monday and seemed to decide there was nothing unusual about it (check out the video at the top). They quoted an NFL spokesman who said there was “nothing definitive shown” on replay to reverse the call.
This wasn’t definitive enough?
There’s no indication that any Washington player held the ball long enough for an official to rule there was a recovery. Johnson had the ball moments after fumbling, that part is indisputable (it’s curious if officials saw that part on the review?). There’s nothing in any television angle that shows a Washington player recovered. While the NFL can tell everyone there was no conclusive evidence on replay to overturn the on-field call (maybe correct, though that picture you see above seems like some pretty good evidence), there’s nothing to show the on-field call was correct in the first place. That’s the problem.
If the call was wrong — and I think most people who have watched the play would say it was — that’s OK. Officials get calls wrong, even with replay. It doesn’t mean this game was fixed or there’s a league-wide problem or any other reason to overreact.
It’s just odd that the NFL was so eager to defend it as the correct call on Monday.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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