As big Ben Rothlisberger clung to the leg of Nick Harper this past Sunday in an effort to save the Steelers' season, Pittsburgh fans had to be thinking one thing when the play was over: I loathe Pete Morelli. And as the man formerly known as the 'idiot kicker' lined up for what should have been a game tying kick, Colts fans must have been thinking something totally different: I love Pete Morelli.
And when Mike Vanderjagt did his best Scott Norwood impression, it didn't even matter anymore.
Earlier in the quarter, when the Colts' Peyton Manning threw what was ruled an interception on the field by the Steelers' Troy Polamalu, it looked certain that Pittsburgh was heading to Mile High for the AFC Championship. But after looking at the video, head ref Morelli decided that Polamalu's knee's contact with the ball caused an incomplete pass, no interception, Colts ball.
But once again, at the end of the day, it didn't matter. Morelli's ruling could be swept under the rug, no problem. Well, tell that to Joey Porter.
Despite the win, the outside linebacker was fuming.
'I felt they were cheating us,' Porter said. 'When the interception happened, everybody in the world knew that was an interception. Don't cheat us that bad. When they did that, they really want Peyton Manning and these guys to win the Super Bowl. They are just going to straight take it for them. I felt that they were like 'We don't even care if you know we're cheating. We're cheating for them.''
So, Porter's mad. That's OK. But with comments like that, accusing the referees of conspiracy and defrauding America's game, he can be certain to be paying some sort of fine, right? I mean, every time Pat Riley or Jeff Van Gundy complain about the NBA's zebras, they're quick to get an order to empty their change purses.
But no. Instead of protecting their referees, their employees, the NFL decided that what was best was to simply throw Morelli under the bus. Mike Pereira, the NFL's VP of officiating, admitted Tuesday that Morelli made a blunder.
'[Polamalu] maintained possession long enough to establish a catch,' Pereira said. 'Therefore, the replay review should have upheld the call on the field that it was a catch and fumble.'
For Morelli and the rest of the league's officials, there is no union. Pereira is their representation. And for Morelli's representation to embarrass him in front of the whole nation is unacceptable.
Morelli, like other referees, is not a full-time employee. For his referee services, Morelli makes in the neighborhood of $35,000, working also as a high school principal during the school year. He gets all the criticism from Pereira, while the millionaire Porter who accused the NFL of trying to get the Colts to the Super Bowl, a scandal that would the biggest of its kind since the 1919 White Sox, gets off with a soft-spoken act of contrition.
This only happens in the NFL. Where was Major League Baseball in criticizing Rich Garcia for his Jeffery Maier debacle in 1996 or why did they decide against publicly humiliating Doug Eddings for last year's mistake that allowed AJ Pierczynski to reach first base? Granted, Morelli's blunder was far worse, given the fact that he changed the call after looking at a replay, but it doesn't matter.
As fans we can criticize the umpire and urge him to go in for corrective vision surgery. The media is also perfectly allowed to question Morelli's place on the NFL field. Sportscenter can show the replay over and over again, even make a Top 10 list of worst calls ever. But, the NFL should be ashamed of embarrassing the head official of an important game, someone they obviously trusted going into the contest, in a situation that could have easily been avoided given the fact that Pittsburgh won.
As usual, the No Fun League took the low road yet again.
