One of the biggest plays of the 2015 NFL season happened in Detroit in December, when Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a 61-yard game-winning Hail Mary. But it was the play before that play that still gets questioned in Detroit.
On the previous play, time expired as Rodgers was tackled, only for the Packers to get one more untimed down when Lions defensive end Devin Taylor was flagged for facemasking. That controversial penalty was called by referee Carl Cheffers, who visited Lions camp today.
When Justin Rogers of the Detroit News asked Cheffers to view a video of the play and explain the call today, Cheffers became agitated.
“Dude, I’m not going to watch that again,” Cheffers said, walking away. “It’s 2016, dude.”
Whether you think the call was right or wrong, referees shouldn’t be above getting questioned. If the NFL wants fans to have confidence that the refs are doing their jobs correctly, then the NFL should encourage refs to answer questions about why they made the calls they made.