PITTSBURGH — Upon further review, Dan Rooney's first instinct probably was correct.
Rooney argued against replay when the NFL brought the topic to the table in 1986, saying too many calls would be questionable even after a review. He cited the Immaculate Reception as a prime example.
Can you imagine if replay existed back then?
The play might still be under review.
Rooney, the Steelers' late, great chairman, eventually came to embrace replay. Or at least to accept it. We discussed the issue late in 2003, as NFL owners readied to vote on whether to extend replay for five more years. The league had used it to aid officials from 1986 to 1991, then brought it back in 1999.
Rooney said his team would vote to keep it.
"This thing has become an institution," he said. "It's part of the whole fabric of the game. I think it's in, for sure."
Indeed it was, with Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Kansas City the only teams voting against the extension in early 2004. Four years later, owners voted to make it permanent, with only Cincinnati and Arizona dissenting (maybe Bengals owner Mike Brown had it right both times).
I wonder what Rooney would think now.
No fewer than 112.3 million of us just watched a Super Bowl in which it became abundantly clear (yet again) that replay has failed miserably in its mission, if its mission was to correct "egregious" officiating mistakes. Especially in big games.
Like, you know, the Super Bowl.
Mike Renfro's non-touchdown catch against the Steelers in the 1979 AFC championship — ruled out of bounds even though replays appeared to show he was in — launched replay. Forty-three years later, we still don't know what a catch is, and the uncorrected egregious mistake still happens often.
It just happened twice in the biggest game of all, leaving some of us to wonder if Rooney's initial instinct was correct and if we've advanced the ball even a yard since 1985.
The first travesty occurred when Bengals receiver Tee Higgins practically ripped the face mask off Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey, rendering him blind on a 75-yard touchdown. All 112.3 million of us saw it. The officials did not. And the league, in an age where we send people on 15-minute joy rides to space, had no mechanism by which to correct the blunder.
Turns out such plays are not subject to review, 43 years after Mike Renfro.
Later, in the dramatic final moments, the Rams lined up 3rd-and-goal from the Bengals 8, trailing 20-16, and no fewer than four Rams linemen clearly jumped the snap. All but the center. Nothing was called.
The tackles jumped to the point where their back feet landed before the ball was snapped. I realize the league is letting tackles get away with early starts, but this was four players missing the snap count.
It wasn't anything sensational, like the missed interference in the NFC championship a few years ago. It was just one of the most flagrant officiating mistakes in NFL history. That's all.
When I posted video of the four players jumping early, people kept pointing out that these types of calls even out, and the Super Bowl was a perfect example.
Great. If that's your take, why even have replay?
The play ended with a controversial holding call on Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson, but there is nothing replay can do about ticky-tack touch fouls.
There is absolutely something it can do about obvious line calls.
Any competent replay official (oxymoron?) could have spotted the early start. All it would have taken was a challenge, and that brings us to the obvious solution to this mess, or at least as close to one as we'll get: Allow teams to challenge everything in the rule book.
The catch would be that each coach only gets two challenges. Get both right, you get a third. Exhaust your allotment early so you can't challenge, say, four players jumping early on a crucial play? Too bad. You'll have to live with the mistakes. You already do.
Rooney advocated for an eye-in-the-sky official who could buzz down if he/she saw an egregious mistake. The problem there is the very pliable definition of "egregious."
Would a missed hold in the middle of the line on an 80-yard touchdown pass constitute "egregious?"
My fear would be too many stoppages and too little agreement on what is worth calling. Kind of like what happened with the interference debacle a few years ago, when that penalty went to replay and the officials on and off the field butchered it regularly.
Put the onus on coaches and their replay people, the way it is in the NHL. You see something, challenge it. You get two, maybe three, over the course of a game.
After that, you live with the mistakes. Just like in 1985.
Just like now.
