Umpire Calls PI when...

[jTheUmp]

If anyone wants me to elaborate, I have three big reasons why I'll never call pass interference from the umpire spot:

1) Since I'm in the middle of the field, and I turn when the pass is thrown... this means that if it's a short pass, I won't be turned in time to see the whole play. If it's a long pass, it'll be far enough away from me that the H, L or B will have a better look than I will anyway.

2) On a seven-person crew, you've got 3 officials (F, S, B) whose ONLY JOB is to watch action on eligible receivers, and 2 others (H and L) who share that responsibility for at least part of the time. On a 5-person crew, you still have 3 officials working that beat.

3) The first big-time NCAA clinic I went to, in the umpire breakout someone (not me) asked if there was ever a time that the U would throw a pass interference flag. The response from the Big 10 (now NFL) umpire leading the discussion: "No. Never. Not even if I'm 1000% sure and nobody else has a flag out. I'll never get a downgrade for not throwing on a pass-interference foul, but I probably will get downgraded if I do throw one, even if I turn out to be right"