Carl Nassib shares his thoughts on being an NFL official this season
Former NFL defensive end Carl Nassib talks about the NFL's youngest officers and the difficulty of their jobs.
It's become a familiar refrain this season as NFL officials face intense criticism seemingly every week for missed calls, unusual calls or a general lack of consistency.
But things may have reached a climax on ABC's national broadcast of “Monday Night Football” when Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman lambasted Land Clark's refereeing team for taking too long to make a decision on what appeared to be a… to make a relatively harmless move.
With less than a minute left in the first half, a kickoff hit the leg of New York Giants special teams guard Lawrence Cager and bounced out of bounds, something the officials initially didn't notice as they threw a penalty flag.
“Just call,” Aikman shouted. “There are 13 seconds left in the half. Just make a decision and that's what stops all these games. I know the officials have been talked about every week, but what we are seeing is ridiculous.”
All in all, it took several minutes for the referees to conclude that the ball had indeed hit Cager and there was no penalty for the play.
The criticism was quite harsh, especially from Aikman, who is not known for frequent sharp takes in the broadcast booth.
In the end, the Giants fell to their knees and ran out the final seconds of the first half, something they probably would have done anyway even with the penalty.
Aikman's comments also came under special circumstances, as the game between the Giants and Packers was broadcast on television, not cable.
ABC aired one of two simultaneous Monday Night Football broadcasts. ESPN, which normally airs a single game on Monday nights, had the Miami Dolphins versus the Tennessee Titans.