Former Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott thinks that dubious shenanigans were at work in the Dallas/Detroit playoff game.
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Former NFL linebacker Bart Scott appeared on CBS Radio Friday to give his opinion that the NFL Wild Card game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions was not wholly on the up and up, an opinion shared by plenty of fans. He had the following to say in a story from CBS Sports Radio, as well as a bit of shade to throw at Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“Listen, what I’ve never seen before in all my years of football is a referee throw a flag and then a ref comes and overturns him – after the call has been announced,” the CBS NFL Today analyst said on Gio and Jones. “I know Jerry Jones had a couple people on that bus, but I didn’t know it was like that. I mean, really? Not only did they pick it up, but now we’re talking about a staff or crew that’s supposed to be an All-Star crew. So you mean to tell me you’re going to overrule an All-Star? There must have been something on the line.”
Scott then went on to compare the situation to a game he played in back in 2007 when the Patriots were going for the undefeated season and played Scott’s Ravens on Monday night. Scott said he thought the officials were making calls to extend what was eventually a game-winning drive that handed the Patriots a win.
Scott said the NFL wanted the Patriots to go into their last game undefeated so that they could sell the rights and make a pile of money, $100 million specifically. He then suggests that the league was trying to pull one over on all of us.
“Listen, man, I know I’m from Detroit, (and) people are going to say (that’s why it bothers me),” Scott said. “But listen, I’ve never seen (anything like) it. And when you see something that you’ve never seen before – even with Mike Pereria on the air saying (otherwise) – come on, man. I was born at night, but not last night.” (via CBS Sports Radio)
Scott might be right, or he might be wrong, but that will hardly matter as most fans are going to believe what they want to believe. A former player and current NFL analyst lending credibility to the conspiracy theory is certainly going to turn some heads, however.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk had a less sensational explanation for the apparent eyebrow-raising referee actions.
"The far more reasonable explanation is that the officials made a mistake while trying to assess possible fouls with the naked eye in real time. And that the mashed-up all-star crew had a not-so-stellar lapse in communication."
So was it ineptitude giving the appearance of shady shenanigans or does the NFL really have something on the line in certain games and biased calls are the method by which it’s executed? You decide.
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