OT: Contacting an official
 

It's OT, because it's football. I'm watching the Broncos go through part of the process of pissing their playoff hopes away (won't be complete until next week), and Brandon Stokely just took exception to a no-call on what he thought was pass interference. He ran about 40 yards to confront the Back Judge.

As he walked away in disgust, he threw his arms, contacting the official's outstretched hand.

Bye-bye

Yep, easy call, REAL stupid move.

did he get ejected? I didn't catch that because I'm flipping through channels. Eagles fan here, but this game is a definite win and my interest isn't high enough to keep it on.

Yep. He got tossed. Stupid move for a veteran player.

My brother just told me he saw it happen in the other room. He said it didn't look like it was intentional and that it probably shouldn't have been an ejection.

I don't know though, I didn't see it but will probably see it on ESPN or Comcast SN tomorrow morning

Stokely INTENTIONALLY swung in the direction of the official.

Just like I tell my kids, don't throw rocks in the neighborhood and then say it's an accident when you break a window.

Whether he hit him intentionally doesn't matter. Did he aim for him? No. Did he swing purposefully in the direction of the official's hand? Definitely. He did it in anger, and I'm pretty sure it was preceded by some choice words. My understanding is that contacting an official is a judgment-free call.

Kind of has to be, doesn't it? Last thing we need is any kind of debate about whether someone "accidentally" hit an official - that just raises the possibility of getting away with taking a shot if you can pretend it was an "accident".

That's exactly right. I can't wait to hear the local sports radio guys complain about it tomorrow on my way home from work, though.

Video of Brandon Stokley Ref Contact and Ejection

Not sure honestly -- I don't know what he said and that alone could've been grounds for dismissal... but the contacting the official here seems a little finger to finger to me... I really don't know.

I predict that the league will use the expression "zero tolerance."

And they should
 

It was just stupid.

Please replay and get back to us.

That one is a no-brainer in ANY league. You do NOT contact any official that way. You start letting things like that go and it's open season on officials.

You telling me if a player does this to you, you're not automatically dumping the player? This one seemed pretty cut and dry to me.