Game Protest Brewing in California

[ref18]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

If the call on the field isn't reversed, the only right thing to do is to award co-champions.

I believe that's the wrong thing to do. You can't reverse the call, because players stop playing when they hear a whistle. The defense stops defending and that could very well have led to the touchdown. And you can't award "co-champions" as only one team won.

The rules are quite clear to do in that situation, and it seems like they did it. You can't reverse the call on the field. You have to address it the same way you'd address an inadvertent whistle on the opening kickoff of the first game of the year. This shouldn't be protestable as it's not a misapplication of rules, it's a judgment call made by the officials, yes it may have been bad judgment, but it's still a judgment call. And kudos for the Ref for not revealing who blew it. The official probably feels like **** because of it, and you don't need to pour salt on the wound by selling out a member of your crew to the coaches. I'm pretty sure those on the crew know who blew it. And I'm hoping he had to cover the hefty bar bill that was part of the post game.

Let he who has never blown an inadvertent whistle cast the first stone.