NFL Admits Botched Call; Obama Weighs In; Packers Still Lose

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Sep 25, 2012 9:00PM

It's official: The second-string officials suck. The National Football League announced today that the contentious call at the end of last night's game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks was incorrect. The Seahawks' Golden Tate did not score a touchdown, stealing the win from the Packers. The NFL said in a release today (emphasis ours):

While the ball is in the air, Tate can be seen shoving Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to the ground. This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game. It was not called and is not reviewable in instant replay.

When the players hit the ground in the end zone, the officials determined that both Tate and Jennings had possession of the ball. Under the rule for simultaneous catch, the ball belongs to Tate, the offensive player. The result of the play was a touchdown.

...

Referee Wayne Elliott determined that no indisputable visual evidence existed to overturn the call on the field, and as a result, the on-field ruling of touchdown stood. The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review.

The result of the game is final.

That little ruling cost some gamblers an awful lot of money, too — something like $150 million in bets worldwide. Bloomberg writes:

Jeff Sherman, assistant manager at the Las Vegas Hotel’s Super Book, estimated that about $15 million was wagered in Nevada on the National Football League’s nationally televised Monday night game and the total worldwide handle -- including offshore sportsbooks, those in Europe and illegal betting -- was about $150 million.

Green Bay Mayor James Schmitt says he's drafting a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to fix the referee situation because "it's compromising the integrity of the NFL." "We are not protesting losing the game," Schmitt told TMZ. "We are protesting the quality of officiating."

But of course the mayor of Green Bay would be angry. What about other politicians? Well, when Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and President Barack Obama agree on something, you know things are serious. This tweet today was so serious that it was signed by "bo" himself.

NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon. -bo

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 25, 2012

Obama went one tweet further to say he hated the replacement refs before you hated the replacement refs.

President Obama last week: "Is it just me or do we have to get our regular refs back?" OFA.BO/bWqfT4

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 25, 2012