Did the Kansas City Chiefs actually stop Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen short of a first down in the fourth quarter of an AFC Championship Game? For ESPN’s Tony Reali, the greater issue seems to be not so much if the right call was made but the method used to make it.
Reali, the longtime host of ESPN’s Around the Horn, took to social media following the game. He did ask his X followers to vote on whether the correct ruling was made on the controversial play, but followed it up with another point.
“In my 24 years on television I have said the words MICROCHIP IN THE BALL a hundred times,” Reali posted. “I do not understand how the greatest league in the world still has a guess method. Eye balling, from 30 yds away, trying to squint through a mass of humanity and walk in a straightish line to where it was, even when the other guy from the other sideline is somewhere else. Technology exists, technology works, tech would be fun!”
In my 24 years on television I have said the words MICROCHIP IN THE BALL a hundred times. I do not understand how the greatest league in the world still has a guess method. Eye balling, from 30 yds away, trying to squint through a mass of humanity and walk in a straightish line… https://t.co/39tNEAEfCW
— Tony Reali (@TonyReali) January 27, 2025
In a later post, Reali said, “In Tennis, the Hawkeye is fun. The oooooooohs and ahhhhhhs are amazing drama. I WATCH ENTIRE HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS of close Hawkeyes for fun! NFL could have this.”
In Tennis, the Hawkeye is fun. The oooooooohs and ahhhhhhs are amazing drama. I WATCH ENTIRE HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS of close Hawkeyes for fun! NFL
could have this https://t.co/EgPbOe5nrQ— Tony Reali (@TonyReali) January 27, 2025
Reali is far from the first person to make this point. During the preseason, Baltimore Ravens announcer Gerry Sandusky criticized the NFL’s continued use of the chain gang, noting how many other places the NFL uses technology.
There are certainly differences between football and tennis. A big one is that if a shot in tennis is ruled to be in, there’s nothing else that matters. In football, a ball getting across the line to gain is only one part of the equation. Did the ball cross the line to gain before the runner was down? Did the runner pull the ball back, or lose the ball at any point?
That said, those issues aren’t mitigated by the NFL’s current system. On the play in question, the two side judges who came in to spot the ball did so from noticeably different positions, with one pretty clearly ahead of the line to gain and the other pretty clearly short.
CBS Sports crew disagree as critical fourth down official review favors Chiefs https://t.co/Lb6seazWBB
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 27, 2025
It’s hard to eyeball where a runner was down (or more difficult, where his forward progress was stopped) from several yards away. And on plays like that, where both teams are concentrated on one small part of the field and not spread out, an official might have to see through several large men to even get an idea of where the ball is.
Technology has gone a long way to eliminate, or at least minimize, poor officiating in tennis. Similar use in the NFL might not be quite as strong, but it wouldn’t hurt.
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