On this past Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Seattle to face the Seahawks in a supposed “rematch” between the combatants that competed in 10 years ago in Super Bowl XL. However, this time around, the squad from the land of “Starbuck’s won by the score of 39-30.
All opposing teams that face the Seahawks at CenturyLink field have to use silent counts, hand gestures and all sorts of extra communication methods to try to minimize the effect of the 12th man, the Seahawks ear shattering home field fan base. But hold on, no one ever mentioned that Pittsburgh would be forced to face a 13th man.
The extra man that I am referring to is the officiating crew that worked the game. Maybe I am being a bit naïve or maybe I am grossly misinformed but I was under the impression that NFL rules prohibit touching or having contact with a receiver after five yards is illegal.
See a few years ago when football was still football, a defensive back could knock a wide receiver off the ball, disrupt that receiver’s pass pattern and could bump the receiver anywhere on the gridiron as long as the ball was not in the air, but during that era, Pittsburgh Steelers Hall-of-Fame cornerback Mel Blount was such a master using the technique the NFL was forced to create the “Mel Blount” Rule to “level the playing field” for the rest of the league.
It established the five-yard bump rule in which the only time a receiver could be bumped by a defender would be within five yards of the line of scrimmage. After that, any contact is supposed to result in a penalty and a first down.
Did anyone watching the Steelers/Seahawks game observe on several occasions that Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman manhandled and held Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown when Brown was well beyond the five yard limit?
There were times when I thought that they had “grandfathered” Richard Sherman’s play and allowing him to bump and run any receiver past the five yards restriction, as long as the ball was not in the air and hey even after the pass was thrown.
Now hear this, if the NFL really wants to establish and maintain credibility, the league should also review, “no call” pass interference plays. If fumbles (knee down or not down), complete or incomplete passes (two feet down inbounds or any other established possession play), forward progress or most other relevant plays can be challenged, then why can’t a coach throw a challenge flag when a lazy eyed official misses a crucial pass interference play especially when there is a change of possession involved?
Over the past few years, there seems to be a higher percentage of “questionable” calls and no calls by the officials proving that in many cases the eye of the camera may be a bit sharper then the eyes of an official that who may have chugged down one too many glasses of Chardonnay or Moscato the evening before the game.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Seattle Seahawks but the NFL must be very careful not to lose any part of its credibility. They religiously throw a flag, if a player taunts another player after a great play or shakes his booty a bit too long (excessive celebration) with his boys after he scores a touchdown).
The public will only tolerate a blind eye for so long from these subjective “policeman of the game.”
There is no room in any sport for hometown, homeboy, biased officiating. If the officials don’t enforce the rules, what good are they?
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or hom412.583.6741
He is also a contributing columnist for urbanmediatoday.com
Follow him on Twitter@ultrascribe.