posted by Zebra Man on Oct 18
This is unexplainable…! With 30 seconds remaining in the first half of the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers game on October 18th, 2009, the Steelers go for it on 4th and 1. Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger runs the quarterback sneak. The spot of the ball is short of the first down. They bring out the chains and measure it. Browns fans are ecstatic as it is an inch or two short!
The refs call it a first down for the Steelers! Shortly thereafter, Steelers receiver, Hines Ward catches a touchdown pass. Upon further review… the ruling is that Ward dropped the ball while rolling out of bounds.
“The ruling … I thought was that you have to have control while you’re in the end zone,” Ward said. “What the ref said was that you have to continue, no matter how many times you roll. On the second roll, the ball hit my thigh and moved a little bit. I had complete control of it when I caught it in the end zone.”
This confusing sequence leads to 3 points when Steeler kicker, Jeff Reed, kicks a field goal before half-time.
The zebras also missed a holding call during a kickoff return with 4:28 remaining in the 2nd quarter by Cleveland speedster, Josh Cribbs. At 10 seconds into this video, note the hold and jersey pull on Steelers cornerback #31, Keiwan Ratliff by an unidentified Browns player.
The Steelers win the game by a score of 27 to 14. Steelers tight end, Matt Spaeth, and Kicker, Jeff Reed, celebrate at a bar named McFadden’s. They get busted leaving the bar for a combo of public urination and public intoxication…
From The Simpsons, Season 5, Episode 16:
Ned: Homer, I’d love to chitty-chat, but tonight’s the night I do my charity work.
Homer: Oh yeah. The judge made me do that once too. Stupid lack of public urinals!
The Short First Down: Read the rest of this entry »
