Should Xavier Gipson’s walk-off punt return on Monday to give the New York Jets an overtime win over the Buffalo Bill have counted? Not according to John Parry, a longtime NFL official and Monday Night Football’s rules expert.
The final part of Gipson’s return was sprung by a block from linebacker Chazz Surratt on Buffalo’s Quintin Morris, who had a chance to bring Gipson down at about the 25-yard line. And as the Jets and their fans were celebrating the thrilling win, Parry chimed in with his thoughts.
“It is big but you’ve gotta put an asterisk on it because there’s a tripping call that was not made. A trip, a leg whip, right near the 23-yard line, No. 55, which would have brought the touchdown back.” Parry said.
Looking at the replay again, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman seemed to agree with Parry, though Buck quickly shifted back to talking about Gipson’s effort.
"You've gotta put an asterisk on it because there's a tripping call that was not made. A trip, a leg whip, right near the 23-yard line, No. 55, which would have brought the touchdown back."
ESPN's John Parry says that Jets LB Chazz Surratt should have been flagged on the GW-TD pic.twitter.com/QwP10ArAAx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 12, 2023
The general reaction to what Parry said was not positive.
Honestly this falls into that category of “right call that would’ve been incredibly dumb if they called it.” It’s the polar opposite of the Super Bowl holding call. https://t.co/VaRZWCIRzr
— Tay *redacted* (@tayredacted) September 12, 2023
Nonsense. Calls get missed. Guys get hurt. Life’s not fair
Stop talking about asterisks in sports, and stop talking about them at all if you can’t pronounce “asterisk” https://t.co/1p2qtfeRFs
— Joel Sebastianelli (@JJSebastianelli) September 12, 2023
Put an asterisk on every game in history then cause you geniuses get stuff wrong all the time. Referees always gotta ruin the fun https://t.co/2o0ndV4UQ7
— Jesse Tapia (@JTapia_03) September 12, 2023
As a lifelong Bills fan, let me say this: Who cares? Jets deserved the win. Just awful https://t.co/Dn7bXTAJz7
— Brent Brookhouse (@brentbrookhouse) September 12, 2023
Man this really shits on the moment. Similar to Tirico with the Lions, but this was a much more dramatic moment. AND I don't think this is even tripping. https://t.co/O9qqruCiI9
— His #1DnesS (@HisDirknesS) September 12, 2023
The worst thing about modern sports broadcasts are the rule analysts… truly brings nothing good to the broadcast, often times undermining the actual refs on the field * https://t.co/6jKBOc0JTE
— Matthew Stefani (@CoachStefani_BB) September 12, 2023
Even accepting Parry’s argument as fact, it likely did not change the outcome. It’s a 10-yard penalty that happened around the 27-yard line. So, if it was called, the Jets would have been starting at the Buffalo 37, close to (if not already in) range for a Greg Zuerlein field goal.
It’s hard to say that Parry shouldn’t have commented at all. He’s a rules expert. A big part of his job is commenting on controversial calls and no-calls. But at the very least, waiting until the on-field celebration had stopped might have been a good idea.
Unfortunately with this, especially using the word “asterisk,” Parry came off more as a wet blanket than rules expert.
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
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