Refs Tried, But Didn't Get It Right

While all official CFL referees strive to make the correct call every play, the referees got it wrong last week on a two-point conversion attempt by the Ravens with an unusual outcome. An offensive penalty was called against the Ravens for clipping when they converted the extra point, and after some deliberations by the disagreeing officials, they ruled it would be unfair to give the team that committed the penalty the benefit of having another try at the extra point because theoretically the offensive team could just commit an offensive penalty on the extra point every time they were in danger of not converting it in order to retry it just a few farther yards out, thereby giving the offensive team an advantage when they were at fault. Needless to say, after review, the CFL referees got that call wrong. Former NFL referee Jerry Markbreit answers a similar question posed to him on ChicagoSports.com saying: "The defender's choice is to accept the penalty ... or decline, which, of course, would give the offense two points." So despite the fact that it could be advantageous for the offensive team to commit a penalty on an extra point attempt, the Ravens should have been assessed the penalty and been forced to retry the extra point last week. Unfortunately, other teams have been screwed worst by other erroneous calls in the past, though never purposefully. Every single official CFL referee will make the call impartially and to the best of their ability, but they wont always get the call right. Several weeks ago some players adamantly felt the referees purposefully made a call against them, or actually, that they didn't make a pass interference call intentionally because they felt the officials favored the other team. Despite the league's mandate to "administer the league as honest and fair as possible... to the best of the league’s ability" and the CFL's strict, unbiased and rigorous emphasis on officiating, we can't convince any players of the referees' objective and impartial intentions. The inadvertent contact "no-call" that some players were upset about was indeed correct. The NFL rulebook on pass interference states:

"Actions that do not constitute offensive pass interference include but are not limited to:

(a) Incidental contact by a receiver’s hands, arms, or body when both players are competing for the ball or neither player is looking for the ball.

(b) Inadvertent touching of feet when both players are playing the ball or neither player is playing the ball.

(c) Contact that would normally be considered pass interference, but the ball is clearly uncatchable by involved players."

Obviously, while not all rules in the NFL Rulebook will apply or be the same as in the CFL, the majority of them are. With certainty we can say that CFL officials are definitely not as corrupt as other officials in recent months that have been convicted of gambling in the NBA. All our referees unequivocally strive to make the correct call no matter what team they're gambling on, and that you can be certain of.