NFL puts Walt Anderson on live game to defend non-call of intentional grounding
Well, that was interesting.
During Monday night's game on ESPN and ABC, a questionable non-call of intentional grounding on the first drive of the game by the Lions was defended by NFL senior V.P. of officiating Walt Anderson.
Appearing live from NFL headquarters, Anderson said the rules "allow a lot of flexibility" for quarterbacks who are trying to get rid of the ball, and that the throw was in the "direction and vicinity" of running back Jahmyr Gibbs, and that it was properly called not a foul.
Anderson contradicted the real-time explanation from ESPN rules analyst John Parry. The broadcast did not point out that specific development. Instead, Joe Buck said, "And we'll leave it at that."
We won't.
Although Anderson said that the throw was in the "direction and vicinity" of the receiver, the rule says this: "It is a foul for intentional grounding if a passer, facing an imminent loss of yardage because of pressure from the defense, throws a forward pass without a realistic chance of completion. A realistic chance of completion is defined as a pass that is thrown in the direction of and lands in the vicinity of an originally eligible offensive receiver."
In other words, the ball must be thrown in the direction and land in the vicinity of the player, not be thrown in his "direction and vicinity." Did the ball land in the vicinity of Gibbs? It sure didn't look like that.
Regardless, it was unprecedented for the league office to cut into a broadcast and defend a ruling. It feels more like trend than arbitration, so we'll stay tuned for more unannounced cameos from Walt Anderson.
