Quote:
Originally posted by rockyroad
Quote:
Originally posted by Bob M.
REPLY: I'll add my own two cents. I thought the OPI was a good (maybe "great") call. What made it so good was the timing. As JRutledge pointed out, the extended arm froze the defender in his tracks. Then the ball arrived about a half-second later. It wasn't so much a push-off as it was a hold-off. So it didn't have the blatant look of a push to create separation, but it created that separation nonetheless. Did the receiver gain an advantage by his actions? Not that much. But did the hold-off put the defender at a disadvantage? Most certainly. That's why there was a flag. If the ball had arrived a few seconds later after the arm was down and the defender was back in a position to be able to make a play on the ball, you most likely wouldn't have seen a flag. And if the arm hadn't kept the defender from moving toward the receiver, you probably also wouldn't have seen the flag.
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Excellent explanation - thanks. But a question...two steps prior to Jackson turning and "holding off", the defender put both hands on Jackson - one on shoulder pad, one on back - and shoved Jackson and Jackson was thrown off stride...if you let that illegal contact go, why would you flag what Jackson did?
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Hey, a lot of the folks from the Bball board are over here, which is great to see.
Bob, thanks for your explanation - I have to admit, the first few times I thought the call was "ticky-tack" at best. I tried to compare it to basketball - and would I have let a post player do the same thing - and after thinking, my answer was "no". So a gutsy call by that official, I have to conclude.
Rocky - let's compare it again to hoops. If a player was cutting to the key to post up, and was grabbed a bit by the defender, do we blow it right away, or wait for the advantage? I think in the Super Bowl case, the official likely saw that the receiver was able to continue his route, so thought no advantage. But when the push-off came, the advantage was basically a TD - thus the flag.
That's how I'm thinking it out, anyway.