Did Pete overstep his authority?

[chiefgil]

Was the Comish correct to send the crew back onto the field in Cleveland?

Is it "pay-back" for the strike?

[Mark Dexter]

Correct or not, it was definately within his scope under the NFL rules. The commissioner or his appointed designee is the ONLY person who can end a game prior to its 'natural' completion.

The referee may suspend a game if conditions warrant, but may not forfeit or end a game under any circumstances.

[ddhawk]

This is not the first time he did such a thing. Last year in New England's last game against Miami, something happened at the end of the game (I forget what) and Miami ran off the field (they won). The replay official decided that the last play should have been reviewed and the Referee determined that there should have been 0:02 on the clock or something. Well Tagliabue called and told the Referee to get the teams back on the field and finish the game. So after most of the players had changed and were untaped, etc., they came back out for one snap. That game had playoff implications if Miami lost (I believe).

I think that Tagliabue did the right thing for the league, but if I were the Referee I would have told him that my crew wasn't going back on the field until there were zero people in the stands to ensure the safety of both the visiting team and the officiating crew. I think that they did clear the stands first.

[Mark Dexter]

The stands weren't cleared - the report in the Washington Post stated that about 5,000 people were still in the stadium to see the last two kneels.

[Ed Hickland]

Originally posted by Mark Dexter
The stands weren't cleared - the report in the Washington Post stated that about 5,000 people were still in the stadium to see the last two kneels.

Not only were they in the stands, they repeated the bottle throwing when the teams and officials left the field the second time.

[BktBallRef]

Looks like the fans in Cleveland will be drinking beer out of cups from now on!

[bluezebra]

Tag did not use common sense in his ruling. This could have had life threatening implications when they returned to the field. A young boy (about 7) was interviewed after the game. He was hit by a bottle, and he said it was his first NFL game, and his LAST. He was terrified. In situations such as this, safety is more important than the rules.

Bob

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I am a life long Brown's fan; I even became a Dolphin fan on the day that Art Modell traded Paul Warfield to Miami for the drafts rights to Mike Phipps.

The fans were 100% wrong and Paul Taglibue did not make the correct decision in sending the players and officials back onto the field. It is evident that Taglibue was more interested in having the NFL look good rather that listen to the professional (the Referee, I do not know his name) that he hired to officiate the game.

[cw3Retired]

Who's Pete?

LOL

Happy New Year!