New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham said he definitely did not push off against cornerback Perrish Cox on a Hail Mary on the final play of regulation of Sunday’s overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Well, then Graham said he did push-off, but only a little bit.
Regardless of the degree of push-off that Graham is willing to admit to, the head of NFL officiating says the offensive pass interference call against Graham that negated a potential game-winning touchdown was, in fact, the correct call.
“Yes, Jimmy Graham should have been flagged,” Blandino said. “We’ll take a look at the play. And you don’t see pass interference on Hail Marys very often, but he puts both hands in the back of the defender, extends his arms and creates that separation to catch the pass.”
While Cox may have embellished the degree of the shove - as Graham claimed - it’s difficult to see anything other than a shove to Cox’s back that gave Graham a clear shot at the descending football.
