tk13
12-21-2005, 02:28 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/13452684.htm
It’s not the knee, or the elbow, that makes you down
JEFFREY FLANAGAN
Kansas City Star
The Chiefs didn’t win or lose Saturday’s game because of one play or one call.
But perhaps the most interesting and confusing play of the day was the Amani Toomer touchdown in the fourth quarter that put the Giants up 20-10. The ruling on the field — that Toomer was not down by contact — was challenged by the Chiefs. After the review, the ruling on the field stood.
http://www.kansascity.com/images/kansascity/kansascitystar/news/dave_cropped_12-21-2005_LOIFG9D.jpg
But did the referee blow the call, even after seeing all the replays?
CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz originally asked after seeing the very first replay, “Was the knee down?”
Nantz’s partner, Phil Simms, quickly corrected Nantz and said: “It doesn’t have to be the knee. If any part of the leg hits the ground (the runner is down).”
Simms was 100 percent right.
Most of us who follow football are taught early on that it is the knee or the elbow (or any part between) touching the ground that declares a runner down.
But according to Steve Alic, AFC information director for the NFL, a runner is down after contact by a defender when “any part of the body except for the hands or feet” hits the ground. That comes from Rule 7, Section 4, Article 1 of the NFL Rule Book.
Simms was right from the start.
And after some more replays were shown, Nantz then conceded to Simms, “The shin was definitely down.”
Then Toomer was down by contact, right?
But Simms backed off a bit as more replay angles were shown. Nantz hedged. Then the referee came back from the hooded monitor and said, “The play stands as called, touchdown.”
Hmmm.
Quite often, officials offer detailed explanations after a challenge. Did the shin touch the ground? (Is that even anatomically possible?) Was the evidence inconclusive? Referee William Carollo chose not to tell us anything.
And strangely, no pool reporter was sent to the officials’ locker room afterward to get an explanation — 400 New York reporters, and not one was curious enough to ask?
Without an explanation from Carollo, the league has an easy out now. It can simply say the evidence was inconclusive, or that it was not strong enough to overturn the ruling on the field.
As for the Chiefs, each week, teams send in taped plays they hope the league will examine and review. The Chiefs won’t say whether the Toomer play is on their hit list.
Shouldn’t it be?
***
Guess who was at the Monday night football game in Baltimore? None other than Jerry Falwell.
Falwell, the founder of the Moral Majority and the president of Liberty University, was there to see one of his alums — Packers running back Samkon Gado, who was with the Chiefs earlier this year.
Liberty, in Lynchburg, Va., is about a four-hour drive from Baltimore.
Gado has become a fascinating story in the NFL, mainly because he was just a third-string running back while at Liberty.
“We have 98,000 alumni, and not one represents a university better than Samkon Gado,” Falwell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He’s a very committed Christian whose goal in life is to be a doctor. I think it still is, but he’ll probably play longer than he ever thought.”
Falwell told the newspaper that given Gado’s talent, he should have been utilized more in college.
“The coach made a mistake,” Falwell said. “The bottom line is that the other two guys were good enough and Samkon was humble enough that it was easy to get lost.”
Asked whether the reason he recently fired coach Ken Karcher, who recruited Gado, was because of his failure to get Gado on the field, Falwell said, “I don’t want to comment on that.”
***
Anyone remember Derrick Blaylock?
Blaylock, the former Chief, apparently will play for the Jets this Monday night, the first time since breaking his foot in a week-five game against Buffalo.
Blaylock, who spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs, was signed to be Curtis Martin’s successor with the Jets.
It’s not the knee, or the elbow, that makes you down
JEFFREY FLANAGAN
Kansas City Star
The Chiefs didn’t win or lose Saturday’s game because of one play or one call.
But perhaps the most interesting and confusing play of the day was the Amani Toomer touchdown in the fourth quarter that put the Giants up 20-10. The ruling on the field — that Toomer was not down by contact — was challenged by the Chiefs. After the review, the ruling on the field stood.
http://www.kansascity.com/images/kansascity/kansascitystar/news/dave_cropped_12-21-2005_LOIFG9D.jpg
But did the referee blow the call, even after seeing all the replays?
CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz originally asked after seeing the very first replay, “Was the knee down?”
Nantz’s partner, Phil Simms, quickly corrected Nantz and said: “It doesn’t have to be the knee. If any part of the leg hits the ground (the runner is down).”
Simms was 100 percent right.
Most of us who follow football are taught early on that it is the knee or the elbow (or any part between) touching the ground that declares a runner down.
But according to Steve Alic, AFC information director for the NFL, a runner is down after contact by a defender when “any part of the body except for the hands or feet” hits the ground. That comes from Rule 7, Section 4, Article 1 of the NFL Rule Book.
Simms was right from the start.
And after some more replays were shown, Nantz then conceded to Simms, “The shin was definitely down.”
Then Toomer was down by contact, right?
But Simms backed off a bit as more replay angles were shown. Nantz hedged. Then the referee came back from the hooded monitor and said, “The play stands as called, touchdown.”
Hmmm.
Quite often, officials offer detailed explanations after a challenge. Did the shin touch the ground? (Is that even anatomically possible?) Was the evidence inconclusive? Referee William Carollo chose not to tell us anything.
And strangely, no pool reporter was sent to the officials’ locker room afterward to get an explanation — 400 New York reporters, and not one was curious enough to ask?
Without an explanation from Carollo, the league has an easy out now. It can simply say the evidence was inconclusive, or that it was not strong enough to overturn the ruling on the field.
As for the Chiefs, each week, teams send in taped plays they hope the league will examine and review. The Chiefs won’t say whether the Toomer play is on their hit list.
Shouldn’t it be?
***
Guess who was at the Monday night football game in Baltimore? None other than Jerry Falwell.
Falwell, the founder of the Moral Majority and the president of Liberty University, was there to see one of his alums — Packers running back Samkon Gado, who was with the Chiefs earlier this year.
Liberty, in Lynchburg, Va., is about a four-hour drive from Baltimore.
Gado has become a fascinating story in the NFL, mainly because he was just a third-string running back while at Liberty.
“We have 98,000 alumni, and not one represents a university better than Samkon Gado,” Falwell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He’s a very committed Christian whose goal in life is to be a doctor. I think it still is, but he’ll probably play longer than he ever thought.”
Falwell told the newspaper that given Gado’s talent, he should have been utilized more in college.
“The coach made a mistake,” Falwell said. “The bottom line is that the other two guys were good enough and Samkon was humble enough that it was easy to get lost.”
Asked whether the reason he recently fired coach Ken Karcher, who recruited Gado, was because of his failure to get Gado on the field, Falwell said, “I don’t want to comment on that.”
***
Anyone remember Derrick Blaylock?
Blaylock, the former Chief, apparently will play for the Jets this Monday night, the first time since breaking his foot in a week-five game against Buffalo.
Blaylock, who spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs, was signed to be Curtis Martin’s successor with the Jets.