Letter to Collegiate Officials

Gentlemen (and others):

I assume that it is your job to get calls correct on the field or at worst, upon review. I further assume that you would like to perform this task accurately. (Penn Wagers and Marc Curles are excepted.) Here is a bit of advice that will improve your accuracy percentage... When AJ GREEN appears to catch a pass in the end zone, call it a touchdown ON THE FIELD. In other words, set your default on "TD" and then let the replay official fix it in the unlikely event that you are wrong.

AJ Green has now been screwed out of two amazing acrobatic touchdowns in the past two seasons because the official on the field probably felt that it was not possible for any receiver to make that catch. Guess what... AJ Green is not "any receiver" and he has proven over and over that he has the best combination of hands and body control of any receiver in the SEC in a long time. This is especially true in the end zone where he has routinely defied physics and logic to make unbelievable catches. I think that AJ has earned the benefit of the doubt instead of the opposite which is "let's assume that he didn't make the catch unless indisputable video evidence proves he did."

TD #1 that was taken away:



The second touchdown that was missed was last Saturday against Vanderbilt but I can't find any video. AJ went up high and snatched the ball away from a defender and came down with the ball tucked in one hand against his belly and landed on his belly. It was clear that his arm was between the ball and the ground. When he bounced off the ground, it was clear that he kept the ball tucked tight against his body as he rolled over to reveal possession of the ball. The referee said that the ball hit the ground, which looked possible in full speed. Upon review, it was clear to me that the ball did not touch the ground but there were not 10 corroborating video angles proving this so the replay official did not overturn the call.

So, in the future, just call it a touchdown and chances are almost 100% that you will be correct. Then apply the "indisputable video evidence" standard to overturning the touchdown. Got it? Great. Carry on.