NFL Officials Even Think Al Riveron Is Bad at Replay Reviews
By Erik Lambert
The NFL officials corps is in a state of confusion and criticism at the moment, much of it having to do with the ongoing controversy of their catch rule.
This is something that really began seven years ago with the now infamous Calvin Johnson non-catch in Chicago. After that the league tried to adjust the rule to help better determine what a catch actually is. If anything though they only made matters worse. The situation is more confused than ever before and been exacerbated by further big moments like the Dez Bryant non-catch in 2014 against Green Bay. So again the league has tried to make things easier.
They decided this season to have a more centralized replay system, hoping to take pressure off their officials in the games from being pressured into making a tough call. It sounds like a good idea. The problem is the man they have in charge of doing the reviews may not be the best for that job in Al Riveron. He’s already come under fire multiple times this season for highly questionable overturns of plays that looked like good catches for critical touchdowns this season.
The Zach Miller and Kelvin Benjamin reviews remain huge criticisms
It started back in October when Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller appeared to make a spectacular one-handed catch for a touchdown in New Orleans. The replay never showed the ball actually hitting the ground, but Riveron determined it did anyway and it was overturned. Things got even worse this past week when Bills wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin appeared to made a huge touchdown catch against New England along the back corner of the end zone. Again Riveron determined from spotty evidence that it wasn’t completed. It was a huge swing of momentum.
That play was so baffling to many that even officials at the game couldn’t help but question the decision.
"But that change was made by the league’s head of officiating, Al Riveron, and the officials in the stadium couldn’t explain what Riveron was thinking.“That’s a hell of a throw, and a catch, I thought,” deep judge Mark Hittner told Taylor.McDermott then asked, “How is that incomplete?” to which Hittner replied, “I don’t know.”"
This is just a hunch but it can’t be a good thing when other referees are calling out their head of officiating for a questionable call. This does not reflect well on the NFL, perhaps a sign that some tweaking to their replay structure is still needed. Maybe that starts with finding somebody other than Riveron to oversee them.