Bruzilla
Well-Known Member
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13533995/split-nfl-new-england-patriots-apart
Pretty amazing story from ESPN, and one that most of have known for some time. And still there are Patriots fans who insist their team and coach got the toughest penalties in league history from one mistake of taping one game.
There is one element of the Kraft/Goodell alliance that was overlooked though. During the 2007 season when New England went 18-1, they played a game against the Baltimore Ravens late in the season. During the pre-game, the announcers were saying how Goodell was Kraft's guest at the game because they had just announced some new joint Patriots/NFL entertainment venue in Boston, and they showed shots of Kraft and Goodell sitting next to one another in the owner's box. The announcers also mentioned how important this undefeated season was for the NFL as it meant they could up ad buy costs for Patriots games because ratings were now so high for them.
So the Ravens are winning the game right up until the final play, a long pass to Randy Moss in the end zone that is ruled a touchdown. The Ravens challenge the call and for good reason: on the replay you can see Moss with his hand stretched out, the nose of the ball touching his hand, but lots of green between his hand and the rest of the ball as he goes out of bounds. There was no way Moss had control of that ball as he went out of bounds.
The ref goes under the hood, then comes out but doesn't go back on the field. Instead he walks over to a table with a telephone on it and calls someone. I'd never seen a ref make a phone call after a play review before that, and have never seen one do it since, but this time the ref did. He was on the phone for a minute or so, then hung up, returned to the field, and said the call on the field was confirmed: touchdown, Patriots win.
Now who did the ref call and why? We know Goodell was in the building, and I think those field phones only call other numbers in the stadium. My guess is the ref called the owner's box and talked to Goodell or someone in management and said "hey, this is not a touchdown, and if I make that call the Patriots lose. What do you want me to do?" And worse, the ref knew to do this, which means someone told him if the game comes down to a close call, make sure that call is for the Patriots.
Pretty amazing story from ESPN, and one that most of have known for some time. And still there are Patriots fans who insist their team and coach got the toughest penalties in league history from one mistake of taping one game.
There is one element of the Kraft/Goodell alliance that was overlooked though. During the 2007 season when New England went 18-1, they played a game against the Baltimore Ravens late in the season. During the pre-game, the announcers were saying how Goodell was Kraft's guest at the game because they had just announced some new joint Patriots/NFL entertainment venue in Boston, and they showed shots of Kraft and Goodell sitting next to one another in the owner's box. The announcers also mentioned how important this undefeated season was for the NFL as it meant they could up ad buy costs for Patriots games because ratings were now so high for them.
So the Ravens are winning the game right up until the final play, a long pass to Randy Moss in the end zone that is ruled a touchdown. The Ravens challenge the call and for good reason: on the replay you can see Moss with his hand stretched out, the nose of the ball touching his hand, but lots of green between his hand and the rest of the ball as he goes out of bounds. There was no way Moss had control of that ball as he went out of bounds.
The ref goes under the hood, then comes out but doesn't go back on the field. Instead he walks over to a table with a telephone on it and calls someone. I'd never seen a ref make a phone call after a play review before that, and have never seen one do it since, but this time the ref did. He was on the phone for a minute or so, then hung up, returned to the field, and said the call on the field was confirmed: touchdown, Patriots win.
Now who did the ref call and why? We know Goodell was in the building, and I think those field phones only call other numbers in the stadium. My guess is the ref called the owner's box and talked to Goodell or someone in management and said "hey, this is not a touchdown, and if I make that call the Patriots lose. What do you want me to do?" And worse, the ref knew to do this, which means someone told him if the game comes down to a close call, make sure that call is for the Patriots.
