PFT Smith: Wade Phillips upset with officials' mistakes

[Doomsday101]

Calling me out? lol

Refs miss calls all the time. I didn't like it, but in the end, these things usually even out.

He didn't blind him. He accidentally threw the flag into the eye of an OL. The guy reacted by pushing Triplette and getting fined because he's not supposed to touch the refs. The guy was concerned because his dad had glaucoma and he thought the that his vision would be loss as a result. It wasn't and he's since back in the league.

The league has also changed the way throw flags. Generally, they're supposed to throw them up in the air...and NOT in any particular direction.

Let's not get ridiculous here. Who said I was content? I absolutely HATE bad calls...when they go against the 'boys. If they go FOR the 'boys, then I'm all for it.

I'm just saying, it's so easy to sit on the sidelines and judge the accuracy of officials, but most of you all have no idea what all a ref has to see or pay attention on any given play. I acknowledge that I don't know what all their looking at, so I'm not gonna rag on them too much about it. In the end, the officials calls are still subject to human error.

The league have rules in place to manage officials and new officials are coming into the league every year. The problem you'll see is new officials will make even more mistakes than a veteran like Triplette because the speed of the game will overwhelm them just like any other rookie player.

I agree. I think if some folks went out and tried to do the jobs the officals are asked to do they would find it pretty difficult and would be called out by the losing team every single week. Were there some bad calls yes and some questionable calls as well.

The Cowboys have done what they should do which is go to the league office with their questions and concerns other than that not much else the Cowboys could have done.

 

[speedkilz88]

Calling me out? lol

Refs miss calls all the time. I didn't like it, but in the end, these things usually even out.

He didn't blind him. He accidentally threw the flag into the eye of an OL. The guy reacted by pushing Triplette and getting fined because he's not supposed to touch the refs. The guy was concerned because his dad had glaucoma and he thought the that his vision would be loss as a result. It wasn't and he's since back in the league.

The league has also changed the way throw flags. Generally, they're supposed to throw them up in the air...and NOT in any particular direction.

Let's not get ridiculous here. Who said I was content? I absolutely HATE bad calls...when they go against the 'boys. If they go FOR the 'boys, then I'm all for it.

I'm just saying, it's so easy to sit on the sidelines and judge the accuracy of officials, but most of you all have no idea what all a ref has to see or pay attention on any given play. I acknowledge that I don't know what all their looking at, so I'm not gonna rag on them too much about it. In the end, the officials calls are still subject to human error.

The league have rules in place to manage officials and new officials are coming into the league every year. The problem you'll see is new officials will make even more mistakes than a veteran like Triplette because the speed of the game will overwhelm them just like any other rookie player.

Orlando Brown actually had major vision problems after that incident and it took him nearly four years before he got back on the field. It was reported that he supposedly received a $25 million dollar settlement from the nfl.

 

[MapleLeaf]

I agree. I think if some folks went out and tried to do the jobs the officals are asked to do they would find it pretty difficult and would be called out by the losing team every single week. Were there some bad calls yes and some questionable calls as well.

The Cowboys have done what they should do which is go to the league office with their questions and concerns other than that not much else the Cowboys could have done.

...is an issue here is the byproduct of more intelligent fans, better on field camera coverage and the introduction of the challenge flag.

All of these developments have made this game harder to officiate in the heat of possibly the most competitive sports league in the world.

No one likes these developments, but we have to accept them. Hopefully the league like any other organization will learn from these mistakes and work harder to improve upon the situation.

 

[cowboyjoe]

The thing is that until refs starting getting fined, or lose games to ref, where they're losing some of the money they make, which ain't much, you're not going to see this change.

I'll give you some human error in this stuff. You have to cause it's going to happen. But it just seems like, around the league (and in college as well) that refs are getting worse and worse and worse all the time.

They need to do something about the system. Even if it's hiring full time refs, giving them a living doing it, to where you can fine them for making really piss poor calls so that they pay more attention.


That said there is no team who can really blame a loss entirely on the refs. If you do your job through the game then a handful of bad calls really shouldn't be able to decide the outcome of your games.

totally agree, what bugs me some of these refs are making 100,000 to 200,000 and they still dont know the rules or dont seem to really care

to me the owners and nfl should get people that really care about the game and want to ; not someone that works part time and gets away with blown calls because the nfl wont fine the refs or suspend them

 

[cowboyjoe]

Orlando Brown actually had major vision problems after that incident and it took him nearly four years before he got back on the field. It was reported that he supposedly received a $25 million dollar settlement from the nfl.

exactly, he received money from the nfl for the injury to his eye due to what triplette did; so why is that ref still in the nfl

if you were at your job and you injured someone, do you think you would still be with that company later, no they would find a way to get rid of you

again and again triplette has blown calls right and left, yet he is still in the nfl as a ref why?

 

[WoodysGirl]

Orlando Brown actually had major vision problems after that incident and it took him nearly four years before he got back on the field. It was reported that he supposedly received a $25 million dollar settlement from the nfl.

I realize that, but his vision has gotten well enough for him to return to the league.

 

[cowboyjoe]

Orlando Claude Brown (born December 12, 1970 in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American football player who played offensive tackle. He attended H.D. Woodson Senior High School. He was released by the Baltimore Ravens in March, 2006, and previously played for the Cleveland Browns. He attended South Carolina State University.

He is known for an incident during a pro football game at home in Cleveland on December 19, 1999 against the Jacksonville Jaguars in which he was accidentally hit in the eye by a penalty marker weighted with BB's thrown by referee Jeff Triplette. Triplette immediately apologized to Brown, who was then tended to by the medical staff. A few minutes later, when play was about to resume, Brown was being taken to the locker room when he pushed past the trainers, ran out on the field and shoved Triplette, knocking him to the ground. Brown was ejected from the game and subsequently suspended by the NFL, although the suspension was lifted when his injury did not heal. The next year, Brown was cut from the Browns, and he sued the NFL for damages. Brown was forced to sit out three seasons because of the eye injury and settled with the NFL for a reported amount of $25 million.

During the 2003 season while playing for the Ravens, Brown started at both offensive and defensive tackle in a game against the Oakland Raiders.

 

[cowboyjoe]

Life in the NFL
By: James Alder
Dateline: September 20, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


You really have to feel for a guy like Orlando Brown of the Cleveland Browns... er, I mean formerly of the Cleveland Browns.

Here's a hard-working offensive lineman, an eight-year veteran in the prime of his career, putting in a hard-day's work on the gridiron when, all of a sudden, a little yellow penalty flag comes floating through the air as innocent as can be.

The unsuspecting lineman is regrouping from the most recent play as the unintentional projectile soars 10... 15... 20 yards down the field, zeroing in on it's target. The weighted end of the flag slips through the big man's face mask in a one-in-a-million shot and strikes him in the eye with enough force to bring him to his knees.

In one split-second Orlando Brown's day has just been ruined. The grizzly bear inside of this big ol' teddy bear of a man is immediately awakened, and he reacts in a way that many of us would under the same circumstances. He explodes and goes after the source of his pain and misery, referee Jeff Triplette. But Orlando's aggravated response only makes this bad situation worse.

Needless to say, the NFL cannot tolerate the manhandling of it's officials, so Orlando was asked by the league to kindly stay away from all NFL games until further notice. So after the December 19th game that nearly took his sight, Orlando Brown found himself on the shelf for the last two games of the 1999 season.

The season ended without further incident, but Orlando still suffered from blured vision and showed no sign of improvement. And even after the league lifted his suspension in February, there was still no sign of improvement in his injured eye. In fact, there is very little sign of improvement to this day.

Ironically, the Browns decided to release Orlando exactly nine months from the date of the incident. He shows no sign of coming back anytime soon, if ever, so as is commonplace in the NFL anymore, Brown was given his walking papers because he was costing the Browns too much money toward the salary cap to take a gamble on his future health. He was supposed to pull in $2.12 million this season from his six-year, $27 million contract, but Orlando won't walk away empty-handed, he will get to keep the $7.5 million signing bonus that went along with the contract.

There has been talk of further litigation in the incident, which brings up the question as to whether or not the official or the league can be held liable for this incident. Should the league be responsible for injuries suffered on the job that were not a result of actual play? Was the referee negligent for carelessly throwing the flag in the air instead of simply dropping it on the ground? Or is this type of injury just another on-the-job hazard?

Brown has been reported to have ex-O.J. Simpson attorney Johnny Cochran on retainer just in case he does decide to file a suit against the NFL, the referee, the Browns, or the Penalty Flag Makers of America. If he does, it will be a precedent setting case that could change the way players are compensated for career-related injuries.

In my opinion, it was an unfortunate accident that resulted from one of the many risks involved in being an NFL football player. That is why they make the big money!

Who do you think should be held accountable for the injury Orlando Brown received from the tossed penalty flag? Cast your vote in the poll below and join the discussion in the Pro Football Forum.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Joe,

How many articles are you going to post when it's already been acknowledged that Orlando Brown suffered vision problems and that it was purely accidental?

 

[DallasEast]

Posted by Michael David Smith on November 17, 2009 10:06 AM ET

That wasn't the only mistake made by referee Jeff Triplette and his crew. Phillips also complained about a ruling on a fumble by Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo: Phillips thought it was Cowboys running back Felix Jones who recovered the ball, but the officials on the field ruled that the Packers recovered. Phillips threw his red challenge flag and Triplette at first started to review the play, but then he remembered that the recovery was not a reviewable play.

Triplette acknowledged afterward that he screwed up on the question of whether he was permitted to review the play at all.

"My mistake," Triplette said. "That's not a reviewable aspect of a play. A recovery of a loose ball in the field of play is not reviewable by rule, so we just couldn't review it."

That is still sickening. I re-watched the play several times last night.

The referee standing in the backfield can clearly be seen:

• Staring at Woodson dislodge the football from Romo
• Followed the ball as it was rolling on the field
• Watched Jones fall on top of the ball
• Saw the Packer defender fall on top of Jones
• Observed the Packer reach under Jones, twisted Jones' body as he was trying to get ahold of the football and wrestled (key word) the ball from Jones grip

It is beyond stupidity. By definition, Jones had recovered the ball. He was down. The referee was staring directly at the whole sequence of events without his vision being obstructed in the slightest.

People should forget the mistake of reviewing the play because Phillips should not have even been placed in the position to ask for a review in the first place. It has absolutely nothing to do with the review process. The referee did not make the correct call on a recovered fumble that a half-blind individual would have had zero problems both witnessing and determining. THAT'S the issue.

 

[Faerluna]

Joe,

How many articles are you going to post when it's already been acknowledged that Orlando Brown suffered vision problems and that it was purely accidental?

AS MANY AS IT TAKES!

:laugh2:

 

[Chocolate Lab]

That is still sickening. I re-watched the play several times last night.

The referee standing in the backfield can clearly be seen:

• Staring at Woodson dislodge the football from Romo
• Follow the ball as it rolling on the field
• Watched Jones fall on top of the ball
• Saw the Packer defender fall on top of Jones
• Observed the Packer reach under Jones, twisted Jones' body as he was trying to get ahold of the football and wrestled (key word) the ball from Jones grip

It is beyond stupidity. By definition, Jones had recovered the ball. He was down. The referee was staring directly at the whole sequence of events without his vision being obstructed in the slightest.

People should forget the mistake of reviewing the play because Phillips should not have even been placed in the position to asking for a review in the first place. It has absolutely nothing to do with the review process. The referee did not make the correct call on a recovered fumble that a half-blind individual would have had zero problems both witnessing and determining. THAT'S the issue.

I watched it last night too, DE, and not only was the referee there, but the side judge was along the sideline looking right at Felix, and he had the same angle as the replay we all saw that clearly showed Felix on his back with the ball in his possession.

I think Catch17 (for one) got it right: The officials were doing like they do so often these days -- they were so scared of blowing the whistle too early, they let the entire play finish and were counting on letting replay fix whatever they might have missed. Only this time, there could be no replay.

 

[pgreptom]

The thing is that until refs starting getting fined, or lose games to ref, where they're losing some of the money they make, which ain't much, you're not going to see this change.

I'll give you some human error in this stuff. You have to cause it's going to happen. But it just seems like, around the league (and in college as well) that refs are getting worse and worse and worse all the time.

They need to do something about the system. Even if it's hiring full time refs, giving them a living doing it, to where you can fine them for making really piss poor calls so that they pay more attention.


That said there is no team who can really blame a loss entirely on the refs. If you do your job through the game then a handful of bad calls really shouldn't be able to decide the outcome of your games.

"Aint much" ??

What do they earn now? A knowledgeable (and hopefully trustworthy) contributor at Yahoo! Answers states that NFL referees currently earn between $42,295 and $120,998 per season. That might not sound like much, but remember, the NFL season is only 16 games.

More:

Sources around the web vary. Some sites report between $25,000 to $69,990 per season. Others put the scale at $42,295 to $120,998 per season. This is based on position and tenure.

Keep in mind they only work for about 5 - 6 months unless they are chosen to officiate in the post season and/or the Superbowl. One site reports NFL officials earn $11,900 for the Superbowl alone.

More:

The National Football League (NFL) pays referees anywhere from $25,000 to $70,000 per season. When you consider that the league plays 16 games and referees are considered part-time employees, you get a better sense of the disparity. But do not feel so bad for them, not only are there only 16 games in the schedule, they also get one-week intervals." According to AskMen.com

Not bad considering the actual time worked. And that you can get everything wrong and it doesn't matter. Sorta like a weatherman with teacher's hours.

 

[DallasEast]

I watched it last night too, DE, and not only was the referee there, but the side judge was along the sideline looking right at Felix, and he had the same angle as the replay we all saw that clearly showed Felix on his back with the ball in his possession.

I think Catch17 (for one) got it right: The officials were doing like they do so often these days -- they were so scared of blowing the whistle too early, they let the entire play finish and were counting on letting replay fix whatever they might have missed. Only this time, there could be no replay.

But that's the thing right there! If you're the ref and you're staring at a guy falling on the ball AND then see a defender fall ON TOP of the first guy who is laying practically face down AND then watch the defender reach underneath the first guy and twist his body 180 degrees face up AND then watch the defender pull the ball out...

...it's maddening to see the ref not make the correct call. People have been shot for lesser offenses. Felix Jones recovered the football. It doesn't get any simplier. Then again, I don't know if I can trust that particular set of refs to know how to boil water! It's crazy!

 

[superpunk]

again this is the same person that blinded an nfl player in the eye

Seems like that's how it's normally done. Where else could he blind him?

 

[joseephuss]

I have a general complaint that the officiating just is not that good in the NFL or college right now. It doesn't matter if I am watching my favorite team, the Cowboys or just some random game. I don't bet on games and I don't play fantasy football. Other than the Cowboys games I don't really care about who wins or loses in the other games that I watch. I just see poor officiating all over the place. It sucks when bad calls affect the team I root for and it also sucks when bad calls just happen.

General managers, coaches and players are all criticized when they make bad decisions or plays. They also suffer repercussions such as being fired or cut. Officials may be criticized, but we rarely see some sort of repercussion for their bad calls.

 

[cowboyjoe]

That is still sickening. I re-watched the play several times last night.

The referee standing in the backfield can clearly be seen:

• Staring at Woodson dislodge the football from Romo
• Followed the ball as it was rolling on the field
• Watched Jones fall on top of the ball
• Saw the Packer defender fall on top of Jones
• Observed the Packer reach under Jones, twisted Jones' body as he was trying to get ahold of the football and wrestled (key word) the ball from Jones grip

It is beyond stupidity. By definition, Jones had recovered the ball. He was down. The referee was staring directly at the whole sequence of events without his vision being obstructed in the slightest.

People should forget the mistake of reviewing the play because Phillips should not have even been placed in the position to ask for a review in the first place. It has absolutely nothing to do with the review process. The referee did not make the correct call on a recovered fumble that a half-blind individual would have had zero problems both witnessing and determining. THAT'S the issue.

totally agree; and the big problem, the ref gets away with this, no big deal from the nfl on him to do it again;

thats the part that stinks;
he is paid over 100,000 a year to continue to make calls and not know the rules, and make dumb calls and nfl doesnt hold him accountable

whats up with that;

so basically your saying, were not going to discipline you, so you dont have to worry, keep making the dumb calls that you do, no big deal, the fans wont object enough, so dont worry

 

[cowboyjoe]

Joe,

How many articles are you going to post when it's already been acknowledged that Orlando Brown suffered vision problems and that it was purely accidental?

thats it, you said he didnt have problems with his eye or wasnt blinded, the last article i posted said he did have problems with that eye after the incident, thats why he got a settlement from the nfl

 

[cowboyjoe]

I watched it last night too, DE, and not only was the referee there, but the side judge was along the sideline looking right at Felix, and he had the same angle as the replay we all saw that clearly showed Felix on his back with the ball in his possession.

I think Catch17 (for one) got it right: The officials were doing like they do so often these days -- they were so scared of blowing the whistle too early, they let the entire play finish and were counting on letting replay fix whatever they might have missed. Only this time, there could be no replay.

exactly they arent doing their job, they are paid over 100,000 dollars a year to do that job; yet they continually blow it; big time;

till fans have had enough, let owners know they have had enough, just like cowboys fans have been telling jerry jones and wade that they want accountability from the players, then nothing will be changed

you have to let the NFL and the owners that parcipate in the competition committe on nfl rules, till people have had enough and realize what is really going on things wont change

just like last night in the cleveland game, a fan on the board said one team had 4 timeouts, 4, where your only allowed 3 timeouts

again another blown call

 

[cowboyjoe]

I have a general complaint that the officiating just is not that good in the NFL or college right now. It doesn't matter if I am watching my favorite team, the Cowboys or just some random game. I don't bet on games and I don't play fantasy football. Other than the Cowboys games I don't really care about who wins or loses in the other games that I watch. I just see poor officiating all over the place. It sucks when bad calls affect the team I root for and it also sucks when bad calls just happen.

General managers, coaches and players are all criticized when they make bad decisions or plays. They also suffer repercussions such as being fired or cut. Officials may be criticized, but we rarely see some sort of repercussion for their bad calls.

exactly, till fans have had enough and let owners and the nfl know they have had enough nothing will change

why should the nfl do anything about their officiating when we as fans wont stand up, unite and be counted towards this horrible officiating and have the NFL make the refs accountable