Make no mistake: if you bet on the Steelers Sunday, you got screwed. You got hosed. You got rogered but good. There are early estimates that put $100 million on the Chargers/Steelers game, and $66m of it was on the Steelers to win by at least five. And they did. They won by six, seven if Jeff Reed makes the extra point. But you’re not gonna get paid. Instead your bookie will say the final score is 11-10. He saw it on Sportscenter. First time in history a game ended with that score. One problem: it’s not true. It didn’t end when it was 11-10, it ended when Troy Polamalu scooped up a fumble and ran it into the end zone with no time left. And a few minutes later, after a discussion—whose details we will never be privy to—took place on the field, the score line miraculously didn’t reflect what everyone saw happen.
The refs claimed that one of the Chargers’ last-ditch laterals was forward. It wasn’t. In fact, it was the 2nd touchdown the refs took away from the Steelers, in a game filled with questionable calls, all of which went against the Steelers. A team that averaged 5 ½ penalties a game through the first 9 games, suddenly got 13 called against them at their own stadium. A team that had 410 yards of offense and no turnovers struggled to score 3 FGs, in large part because of over 100 yards of penalties. This game was fishy. And that’s not acceptable.
So, I have a bold suggestion: we should sue the NFL. Not for our money back, although that would be nice. Not for better games, because frankly we’ve been pretty lucky in that department. No, we need to sue for accountability. We need a Freedom of Information Act for the NFL. We need to force Roger Goodell to take our demands seriously. We need all officials to be recorded.
Make no mistake, I am not accusing the refs of being corrupt. Of course, I’m not not accusing them either. There have been a lot of write-ups about this game, and most have flatly denied the idea of NFL refs fixing a game. But, there are going to be a lot of Message Board comments nationwide, and most will be thoroughly convinced the refs screwed Steelers bettors to help out Vegas. All I’m saying is: times are different. It is now ATD: after Tim Donaghy. Referees are no longer above reproach, and it’s time the NFL addressed that. It is time that every discussion the refs have during the game should be reviewed and saved.
In the first quarter, the Chargers facing a second-and-long, Vincent Jackson went to the end zone, turned, and went the wrong way. Flag. Defensive Pass Interference. The ball wasn’t even close to him, the definition of an uncatchable pass. And the “Pass Interference” was a bump that had no effect on the play and no business drawing a flag. Instead the call gives the Chargers a 1st and Goal at the 3, and LT scores the Chargers’ only touchdown on the very next play.
Later, the Steelers—on a first-and-ten in their own zone—get called for illegal formation because their tackle was too far back from the line. To me, a Chargers fan, I couldn’t believe they made the call, especially since it negated a 16-yard completion. Or there’s the illegal block in the third quarter that negated another Steelers first down. Or the holding call in the fourth that took away a Steelers touchdown. And of course the mother of all questionable calls, the “penalty” on the Chargers that took away the Steelers’ spread-covering touchdown.
What did the refs say to each other? Surely they had to acknowledge that either way the game was over. Did anyone mention the point spread? What rationale did they use for reviewing the play after the game was over? Did anyone object to delaying the inevitable for no particular reason? These are questions that no one but that officiating crew can answer, because there’s no record of the conversation.
Ed Hochuli’s mistake earlier this year was clearly an honest one; but he couldn’t undo the whistle. This crew? They went out of their way to affect the score. And someone needs to find out why. So why not make every ref wear a mic? It won’t be live to the crowd, it doesn’t have to be live to anyone in the stadium, or to anyone watching at home. But shouldn’t someone at NFL headquarters have access to their conversation, just in case? Why can I hear some coach cussing out a ref on NFL Films, but I can’t hear some honest discussion of a difficult call?
Did Tim Donaghy have any co-conspirators? Did any ref ever come up to him and say, “Hey, you seem to be calling a lot of fouls tonight?” What about last year’s Ravens/Patriots game, when some Baltimore DBs claimed one official kept calling them “boy,” antagonizing them. Publically the NFL has to back its refs, but privately, shouldn’t they be able to investigate more thoroughly than just asking politely?
A few years ago, Italian soccer’s top league had one of the worst match-fixing scandals imaginable. Telephone records showed managers talking to each other, and finding “favorable” referees. In soccer, 90% of calls are going to be made by the one ref on the field. It is easy to see how one guy could affect the outcome of games with no accountability. It took telephone records to crack the case because no discussion was ever going to happen on the field. But American football has a natural advantage over that: each call is discussed. There are 7 guys that are accountable to each other to make sure that everything is done correctly. So, why not make sure that we know what those seven guys said? Again, it doesn’t have to be public, at least not right away. Put it in the private NFL Archives, to be released after it is reviewed. Every official is individually graded and those ratings are kept secret; why not listen to their conversations while watching their calls? I can’t think of any other way to make things transparent enough that fans know what’s going on.
The sports world has not been this fragile since 1919 and the Black Sox scandal. There clearly is a precedent, motivation, and opportunity for corruption among officials. So when there is a game like the Steelers/Chargers, Roger Goodell needs to be able to honestly say, “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. We saw the video. We heard the conversations. Rest assured your game is safe.”
We as sports fans need more control over our game. We pay the bills, so we need some say. And if we have to sue the NFL to make sure the game is better, then so be it. In fact, Steelers fans, since you’re a little shorter on cash then you expected to be, here’s some free advice: do what San Diego fans did. Call the law firm Ed Hochuli works at. Ask him to represent us. I think we have a case.