Fail Mary

El Guapo

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There is another chance for everyone to relive the Fail Mary again. Of course they'll play it over and over prior to the game. Here is the ESPN link: http://espn.go.com/nfl/feature/moment/_/page/failmary/fail-mary

Reading McCarthy's comments about the professionalism of the league were interesting. However, he mentioned Wayne Elliott (referee) being to scared to overturn the call. I remembered thinking the same thing at the time. It made me want to toss out this pointless question:

Who do you blame most of the following three:
1) Lance Easley - back judge who ruled it a simultaneous catch
2) Wayne Elliott - referee who reviewed the replay and refused to overturn the call
3) The NFL for upholding and justifying the call
 

longtimefan

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I heard E.Wolf on radio today complaining about this and Lance being on a comedy show

Personally, I think rehashing this is not needed

Might as well bring a thread on Rice's fumble in the playoffs too
 

GoPGo

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Who do you blame most of the following three:
1) Lance Easley - back judge who ruled it a simultaneous catch
2) Wayne Elliott - referee who reviewed the replay and refused to overturn the call
3) The NFL for upholding and justifying the call

Easley
NFLRA
Elliott

In fact, I don't blame Elliott at all. The game was in Seattle. I'm sure he didn't want to die that night. The NFLRA put these guys in a bad situation and he didn't want to decide the game on a replay review... something many NFL officials don't like to do.

BTW Easley was the side judge. The back judge was the black guy that got it right. He was signalling dead ball with no TD. Then Easley came swooping in and threw his hands in the air without even conferring with the back judge.
 
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El Guapo

El Guapo

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Thanks for the correction.

I believe that the back judge and Easley made their signals simultaneously ... the only simultaneous move of the night. What I never liked was that they didn't confer. In Easley's interview, he said that he knew that he had to "sell it" by making a call one way or the other and letting the replay sort it out. As a referee, I understand the need to "sell" a call sometimes but it's got to be what you believe. This is a good example of replay not sorting through to the correct call. Easley didn't know what he was selling, but like most salesmen, he just wanted to make the sale without caring about the after affects.
 

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I blame the NFL for at least not admiting the following day that they blew it. Then again can you really come out and admit that your scab refs are impacting the integrity of the game, and in this case directly calling the outcome of a game WRONG, potentially impacting playoff seeding and definitely costing people millions of dollars on gambling action (of course rewarding others so I guess it's a wash). BTW.......know how you can tell a real Seahawk fan? They're the ones who aren't fixated on defending the Fail Mary as the second most important highlight in Hawks history.
 

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With that deviant crowd of butthead fans, I think the ref feared for his life if he would have made the CORRECT call and over turned it. He would have had to sneak out in some under ground tunnel to keep his life. Home crowd had the most influence on the call. Gruden, madden, dungy and several other all have said they cant beleive that call was made..... those guys aree very unbias and know their stuff......if they see it from a damn replay then why couldnt the ref(s) see it? Home town crowd....
 

lambeaulambo

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keep in mind - if the Rice fumble is upheld, we never hear, OWENS HE CAUGHT IT HE CAUGHT IT HE CAUGHT IT ever....those words ring in my head.
 
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El Guapo

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I had to clean the basement last night and so I threw in my DVD of the Fail Mary game. It really is astounding the number of bad and missed calls in that game: the phantom pass interference called on Shields (that should have been offensive on Tate), the pass interference called on Seattle to give Finley the 3rd down conversion, the roughing the passer on Walden on McMillon's INT, the non-call on Woodson's obvious pass interference with 2 minutes left in the game, the 3rd quarter incomplete pass that they gave to Finley that set up Mason Crosby's FG....

Had the NFL overturned the final bad call, it would have begged the question about all of the other bad ones. Re-watching the game helped me come to terms with the NFL's handling of it. I don't like that they were too scared to reverse a win/loss, but the real issue was to bring back the refs. They at least got the most important thing right.
 

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No way the NFL will ever ever EVER overturn a result short of a fixing scandal. Yeah there were a lot of bad calls in that game but that one had to be the worst. I can honestly say that if GB were ever on the other end of such a call I would come out and admit "we stole one". My favorite take on it was Steve Young. He said he was standing yards from the play and watched it, figured, game over. He said then "I saw the look in the refs eyes and I thought OMG, no, don't do it, don't do it, nooooooloo" Young (and others in the post game show) were sincerely distraught with what was happening to the integrity of the league. All that said, Green Bay makes the proper play and bats the ball out if bounds and the ref never has a chance to make the worst call in Packer history. Finally, the crowd in Seattle, yes they're (their stadium) are loud, but they're a pretty laid back crowd. Other than a very few loudmouth morons which you have anywhere (including Lambeau) I've never seen any over the top behavior to where the ref had any concern for his safety.
 

JBlood

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Not even close. The Rice fumble was even more obvious and it was a playoff game.
Yeah, had the Rice fumble occurred the next season, it would have been overturned on a challenge. But the fail Mary shows the limitations of the challenge system. Maybe it will be better with the changes being implemented this season.
 

RockyRaccoon

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I had to clean the basement last night and so I threw in my DVD of the Fail Mary game. It really is astounding the number of bad and missed calls in that game: the phantom pass interference called on Shields (that should have been offensive on Tate), the pass interference called on Seattle to give Finley the 3rd down conversion, the roughing the passer on Walden on McMillon's INT, the non-call on Woodson's obvious pass interference with 2 minutes left in the game, the 3rd quarter incomplete pass that they gave to Finley that set up Mason Crosby's FG....
+1 for acknowledging that the officiating was ****-poor all around in that game. Both teams were victims of bad calls. It just sucks the most significant of the bad calls went against us.

As for the NFL not overturning the call and the game: they did the right thing. I would rather lose the way we did any day than "win" with a reversal after the fact.

I blame Packer fans still beating a dead horse. It was 2 years ago. Move on ffs.
Amen. We're garnering a reputation as being a fanbase of whiners. In fact, the best part of tonight's game, IMO, is that after the game, win or lose, most people will (hopefully) finally be able to let it go.
 
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El Guapo

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We still talk about the Ice Bowl, 4th and 26th, Charles Martin's body slam, Desmond Howard's SB kickoff return, etc. I like talking about plays that happened in the past, good or bad. That's not whining, it's reliving the past because there isn't a game on tv for me to watch right now!
 

pacmaniac

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The ref really thought he would be murdered if he overturned the call? He wasn't in Philly.
 

adambr2

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Not to beat the play to death but this is what happens when you screw over the "Green and Gold" because your a "closet Seahawk fan". Looks like someone had to get honest with himself finally.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...-battling-depression-has-contemplated-suicide

That's terrible. He made a mistake and made a bad call, but at the end of the day, he's a human who tried to do the best he could at his job, in something that's just a game.

I hold no ill will towards the man and wish him the best in getting his life back together. No call is worth someone's life being ruined over. Even though we obviously thought it was a raw call I sure hope most Packer fans feel that same way.
 

brandon2348

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That's terrible. He made a mistake and made a bad call, but at the end of the day, he's a human who tried to do the best he could at his job, in something that's just a game.

I hold no ill will towards the man and wish him the best in getting his life back together. No call is worth someone's life being ruined over. Even though we obviously thought it was a raw call I sure hope most Packer fans feel that same way.

No I don't think anyone should kill themselves either but this guy was profiting on the thing the whole way on something that he knew wasn't right. This is what can happen when you "sell out".
 

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here is easley enjoying his 8 minutes (not 15) by rubbing elbows with the seahawks at Richard Sherman's softball game.

Go Google "easley seahawks softball game"

I have no sympathy for this man. He chose to stand by a bad call, laugh it up to hobknob for a few weeks, and lost everything.

Sometimes life sucks when you screw other people.

#karma
 

adambr2

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It's a freaking charity softball game. Things are done for publicity, for charity. At the time maybe he thought laughing it off would be the best way to handle it anyway. Regardless, is it really worth wishing severe depression and/or suicide on a guy? Is that really what we've come to?

We're better than that. It was a bad call. It was in 2012. I'd rather move on and let him move on.
 

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How do people function in society with such a complete lack of perspective? That game was forever ago and it was a GAME.
 

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I'm not wishing he commits suicide. I just don't feel sorry for him or his sob story that culminated with this event.

I lean towards he did what many do with a shred of notariety. He decided he was big time, mucked it up, ruined his marriage and job and couldn't cope.

None of that says he called that play to create it, but he was like Carroll was after the game:

"Call? What call?!? I thought it was a great game... Thought we played good ball and won... Nothing to see here..."

That's what makes me not care for him.

Going and running with it with moxie is why I don't like him or care. Same as Pete Carroll.
 

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