San Diego/Denver

[dahoopref]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Yes it was ruled in inadvertent whistle. This is why they put the ball on the 10 yard line instead of the previous spot or original line of scrimmage.

Peace

Not to split hairs here but.....

according to an NFL official friend who I talked to, the whistle should have nothing to do with the play.

Hochuli made the mistake of announcing to the crowd that "the play should have been ruled a fumble. By rule, the ball is dead when it hits the ground because the whistle was blown."

My friend told me, "The judgment of the play being an "incomplete pass" caused the ball to be dead, not the whistle. If the pass is ruled incomplete then the ball is dead when it hits the ground." On that play, the whistle has no bearing when the ball is dead.

NFL VP of Officiating, Mike Pereira, has told his Referees (white caps) at clinics to not use the word "whistle" when explaining a call to the crowd. Hochuli may have been flustered (as any of us might have) by his incorrect judgment and forgot what Pereria instructed not to say to the crowd.