The Holy Roller - What If?

[Robert Goodman]

Watching the game live on TV at the time, I was sure it was only Raider magic in the NFL office that kept the first pass from being ruled incomplete (which just required ruling it a pass instead of a fumble), and at least one of the subsequent ones from being called illegal batting or illegal forward pass.

However, favoritism for certain clubs aside, over the years the game has tried to take more and more judgment away from field officials in favor of clearer calls that are easier to decide on the facts albeit less in tune with the overall spirit of the game, like the later-adopted fumble recovery. I would far prefer a rugby-like rule that simply didn't allow ground gained, any time, any place on the field, by recovering a fumble or muff ahead of the spot where contact with the ball was lost, with certain exceptions. Canadian football called that sort of thing an "offside pass" but poked more and more exceptions in it over many years to where it's now practically the same as American fumble recovery rules.

I also don't like the way "fumble" is defined by exclusion, but it's better than nothing. Even by that rule, Stabler threw the ball, making it a pass, not a fumble. Quarterbacks have lost a ball in their hand in far more ambiguous circumstances and had a forward pass ruled as a result. Then the question was whether the subsequent hits propelling the ball forward were muffs or bats, and although some of the contacts were at least arguably muff, enough of it was batting to be called such if the Raider club was not charmed. In fact Banaszak had such control of the ball, he was scooping it forward, not even batting it!