On Thursday night, Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba risked having another 15 yards of field position added to the 10 yards (and lost touchdown) that resulted from a holding penalty.
“That’s some bullshit!” Smith-Njigba said to referee Alex Kemp as he was announcing the holding call to the stadium. Kemp’s open microphone captured, and conveyed, the words. Prime Video’s cameras captured, and conveyed, Kemp’s reaction — the kind of look I’ve both received from my father and delivered to my son.
Kemp reached his hand toward the flag he keeps in the front of his belt. But Kemp didn’t call a penalty on Smith-Njigba.
Here’s the relevant language from the rule regarding unsportsmanlike conduct: “Using abusive, threatening, or insulting language or gestures to opponents, teammates, officials, or representatives of the League.”
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Smith-Njigba’s comment to Kemp required a flag, given the language and the way it was delivered.
Surely, some referees would have penalized a player who said, directly to the official, “That’s some bullshit!”
This speaks to a lingering inconsistency among the various officials who enforce the rules in real time. And those inconsistencies can become fodder for the tinfoil-hat crowd, thanks to the league’s ever-expanding gambling money grab..
When the flag is thrown, someone can say, “Didn’t we see something similar where it wasn’t?” When the flag isn’t thrown, someone can say, “Didn’t we something similar where it was?”
Coupled with little if any transparency in officiating (except when the league wants to get the word out that officials have been told to “officiate it tight” regarding the tush push), some folks don’t fully appreciate the basic “shit happens” reality of officiating. They’re instead looking for any semi-plausible basis for saying, “The fix is in.”
And so, when “that’s some bullshit!” happens and a flag isn’t thrown, the mind will wander. In turn, the next time “that’s some bullshit!” happens and a flag is thrown, the mind will wander again.
The key becomes striving for consistency. And, when necessary, embracing transparency regarding the fact that consistency is very difficult to consistently achieve.
