nyt: Flags Raise Flags in N.F.L.

[boutons_]

September 10, 2006
Flags Raise Flags in N.F.L.

By CLIFTON BROWN, NY Times

This article was reported by Clifton Brown and Aron Pilhofer and written by Mr. Brown.

The number of penalties in the National Football League has increased each of the past four seasons, with the sharpest increase coming in offensive holding and false starts, according to an analysis by The New York Times. After dropping to 13.6 penalty flags a regular-season game in 2001, the number of flags increased to the point where last season, officials threw more than 17 flags a game.

Then the postseason raised the focus on officiating because the league admitted that an incorrect call was made during the Indianapolis-Pittsburgh playoff game. And in Super Bowl XL, several controversial calls went against the Seattle Seahawks in their loss to the Steelers.

“I don’t think that the officiating got worse in the playoffs,” said Mike Pereira, the league’s vice president for officiating, “but after the mistake in the Indianapolis-Pittsburgh game, it brought officiating into the conversation, and it became open season on us.

“I think it’s amazing, with all the replays and the scrutiny, that our guys are proven to be right so often. Mistakes will be made, but there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re better than we were 30 years ago. But it’s impossible for me to argue with those who say the job has gotten harder.”

Why are penalties increasing? The league has emphasized offensive holding, defensive pass interference and protecting the quarterback in recent years, giving officials more infractions to look for and more judgment calls to make. In addition, the officials appear to be giving players less leeway when it comes to certain infractions. Offensive linemen and defensive backs in particular appear to be under scrutiny.

It remains to be seen if the trend continues as the season kicks into high gear today.

Among other findings in The Times’s study:

¶Over all, the home team has had an officiating advantage, but not as big as one may think. About 52 percent of flags were thrown against visiting teams, and 48 percent against the home team.

¶The Arizona Cardinals drew the most flags each of the past two seasons, but the Oakland Raiders had the most penalties called over the six seasons that were analyzed.

¶Offensive tackle Alex Barron of the St. Louis Rams was flagged the most last season, 18 times, although he played only 12 games.

¶Indoor stadiums appear to affect the type and the number of infractions. There were about 1.6 more flags thrown indoors than thrown outdoors, and the difference is attributable to flags connected with crowd noise: offside penalties and false starts.

Last season, Walt Coleman’s crew called the highest percentage of penalties against visiting teams (58 percent), while Tom White’s crew called the lowest percentage against visiting teams (49 percent).

Crews headed by Gerry Austin and Walt Anderson ranked first and second in fewest penalties called in 2004, and tied for second in fewest penalties called in 2005.

The league monitors these kinds of trends, and Pereira considers them when he decides which officials to move from one crew to another. But Pereira said the fact that Larry Nemmers’s crew called the most penalties did not mean that something was amiss.

“My biggest concern isn’t which crew called the most penalties or the fewest,” Pereira said in a telephone interview. “My biggest concern is: Did they get the call right? If there’s too big of a disparity, we look at each official, the call that was made and whether it was the proper call. Depending upon that, we decide on which changes we may need to make.”

In an unusual admission in January, the league announced that the referee Peter Morelli had wrongly overturned an interception by Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu during the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ 21-18 playoff victory over Indianapolis.

Then, in the Super Bowl, a series of judgment calls went against the Seahawks during their 21-10 loss. The Seahawks had a touchdown taken away when wide receiver Darrell Jackson was called for offensive pass interference.

In the fourth quarter, with Seattle trailing by 14-10, a catch by Jerramy Stevens that would have given Seattle first-and-goal at the 1-yard line was wiped out when Sean Locklear was called for holding. Three plays later, Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck had a pass intercepted by Ike Taylor, and Hasselbeck was erroneously called for a 15-yard penalty for a low block on Taylor’s return.

That gave Pittsburgh the ball near midfield. A few plays later, Antwaan Randle El threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward that broke open the game.

The next day, Seahawks Coach Mike Holmgren told the crowd at a Seattle pep rally: “We knew it was going to be tough going against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn’t know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.”

Other than the mistake on the low-block call, Pereira defended the calls in the Super Bowl.

“What’s a penalty in the first quarter should be a penalty in the fourth quarter, and what’s a penalty in the first game should be a penalty in the playoffs,” Pereira said. “We’d all rather see a game with no fouls. But when they occur, our job is to call them.”

Pereira said that the league was monitoring the increase in penalty calls, and that he hoped the number would not continue to rise.

“When the compe ion committee ins utes rule changes, they’re going to be enforced to the letter of the law,” he said. “I think we’re reaching a point where you might start to see the trend reverse. Teams start to understand how you’re going to officiate. Maybe defensive backs do less bumping of receivers beyond 5 yards.

“Nobody likes fouls, but if they’re there, what do you do, turn your head and not call them? If we had our preference we would have no fouls, but that’s not ever going to happen.”

Steve Martin, who played defensive tackle for 10 years in the N.F.L. before retiring recently, said the at ude of players was also a factor.

“Players are pushing all the limits of what is acceptable and unacceptable play,” Martin said in an e-mail response to questions. “If you know you are going against the best player at that position and you have been beaten over and over again, your instincts tell you to cheat. You try your best to bend the rules.”

The league office is not alone in keeping a watchful eye on officiating. Asked how closely he monitors officials, Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells reached for a laminated chart on his desk that tracks each crew and its calls.

“There’s every official in the league and what every crew called last year,” Parcells said. “Yeah, I pay attention to it. I study the crew. I tell my players what the crews’ tendencies are, what penalties they seem more inclined to call. I generally like officials, and I haven’t had too many problems with them. I just wish my language, when I talk to them, was a little bit better.”

Jim Tunney, an official from 1960 to 1991, agreed with Pereira’s assessment that officiating in the N.F.L. has never been more challenging, with continual rules changes, players moving faster than ever and calls being critiqued in slow motion from various camera angles. Coaches, players and fans have multiple opportunities to catch errors, to question calls and to vent.

“It’s a high-pressure job, and the job is much harder now than when I was doing it,” Tunney said in a telephone interview. “Officials have more resources to help them, but they’ve also got more to worry about. Everybody’s bigger and faster. Guys with 4.3 speed, and the sheer physicality of the game can cause more fouls to happen, and give you less time to react.”

The league makes subtle changes in officiating personnel from year to year. There are 17 seven-man crews, and only four of those 119 officials this season are rookies, the top prospects recruited from the college ranks. The average career of an N.F.L. referee is about 15 years, and there is no mandatory retirement age.

“Our guys are in shape, but I’m not a big advocate of having 25-year-old guys with 4.5 speed who can’t discern what’s a foul and what’s not a foul,” Pereira said. “Good officiating has little to do with running speed. Good officiating has to do with what you process quickly in your mind, and the calls that you make revolve around judgment. Having experience is part of that. Some of our best officials have also been among the most experienced.”

N.F.L. crews grew to six from five in 1965, and to seven in 1978. Each crew stays together all season, but at least one official on each crew was with a different crew the previous season.

Pereira’s goal is to have 17 crews that officiate games consistently and interpret the rules the same way. On Sundays, Pereira watches every game from his command center in Manhattan, giving him a firsthand look at any controversial calls.

“I have a good idea of which coaches I’ll be hearing from on Monday,” he said.

Don Shula was a member of the league’s compe ion committee during many of his 32 seasons as a head coach. In his opinion, the quality of officiating has steadily improved.

“There’s no question that officiating was better when I left coaching than when I started,” Shula said by telephone. “They have better training, they do more studying, they are critiqued better. If you don’t measure up, they’re going to let you go and look for somebody else.”

Vermeil, who spent 15 seasons as a head coach during a career that spanned four decades, was less effusive in his praise of officials, but he added that coaches were among an official’s toughest critics.

“It’s probably done better than it used to be, but most coaches probably feel that it’s not done as well as it ought to be,” Vermeil said in a telephone interview. “I had the same feelings about officiating in the 80’s that I had during the 2000’s. It’s just human nature to think that it could be done better.”

The N.F.L. is often criticized for refusing to make officials full-time employees. Many are employed full time in other professions.

Considering how much time they spend preparing for games during the week, however, Pereira is not convinced that full-time officials would do a better job.

Vermeil agreed, saying: “What these guys do is already pretty well ingrained. They spend all week analyzing game tape. They prepare. They get graded by the league. I mean, what else would you have them do? It’s not like basketball and football, when they’re playing throughout the week. We play once a week, and they have seven days to get ready for one game.”

But no amount of preparation can create perfection.

[Guru of Nothing]

Over all, the home team has had an officiating advantage, but not as big as one may think. About 52 percent of flags were thrown against visiting teams, and 48 percent against the home team.

This should fuel conspiracy theories about the way NBA games are called, but it won't.

I know why, but I won't say.