Is it time to can the Instant Replay experiment?

I posted this in another thread, but then I figured it deserved its own thread.

I really think they should get rid of instant replay. I don't like having too much communication between the booth and the guys calling the game. People may say, "well, instant replay helps them get it right." To that, I say, "so?" The referee is always right. Whatever he rules is what "occurred" on the play. A lot less funny business would go on if the guys on the field would just use their judgment and there was no time to review plays, we just went with what they saw.

I'm sorry, instant replay totally changes the game of football and I think that's definately a negative. "Getting it right" is usually an excuse for being able to get it wrong initially. I don't want second guessing. I want one call, from the officials, and that becomes history. Too many times, instant replay totally changes a game. Getting it right or not, one team still gets screwed, as well as the fans.

I'm with John Madden on this one. Every play in football is now about "was his knee down before the fumble?", "was his arm moving forward before it was hit?", "did he trap that one?" All thanks to instant replay. Guess what, who cares? If it looks like a fumble and smells like a fumble then it's a fumble. When the ground causes the fumble, the official knows right away and rules it down by contact, that never needs to be reviewed anyway. The location of a guy's knee has no bearing on the likeliness that he will cough up the ball. I hate cop outs.

I posted this in another thread, but then I figured it deserved its own thread.

I really think they should get rid of instant replay. I don't like having too much communication between the booth and the guys calling the game. People may say, "well, instant replay helps them get it right." To that, I say, "so?" The referee is always right. Whatever he rules is what "occurred" on the play. A lot less funny business would go on if the guys on the field would just use their judgment and there was no time to review plays, we just went with what they saw.

I'm sorry, instant replay totally changes the game of football and I think that's definately a negative. "Getting it right" is usually an excuse for being able to get it wrong initially. I don't want second guessing. I want one call, from the officials, and that becomes history. Too many times, instant replay totally changes a game. Getting it right or not, one team still gets screwed, as well as the fans.

I'm with John Madden on this one. Every play in football is now about "was his knee down before the fumble?", "was his arm moving forward before it was hit?", "did he trap that one?" All thanks to instant replay. Guess what, who cares? If it looks like a fumble and smells like a fumble then it's a fumble. When the ground causes the fumble, the official knows right away and rules it down by contact, that never needs to be reviewed anyway. The location of a guy's knee has no bearing on the likeliness that he will cough up the ball. I hate cop outs.


There is a reason there was an out cry for instant replay, if you think you have complaints now about bad calls wait until it bites us in the ass and some nit wit ref rules a fumble after a player hit the ground long before he fumbled, or a catch that is ruled out when it's as clear as day that he was in, and we lose a big game, much easier to get screwed that way, and the way the NFL feels about Snyder I want them to have as little of an opportunity to screw us as possible, in case you haven't noticed we haven't exactly been the poster boys for favorable calls since Snyder took over.

it gets more calls right than wrong, and it's better than losing a game because some 60 year old didn't see it clearly the first time (which happens).

there's really not much support for getting it removed, and even colleges are seeing that it's a good idea now.

no way. these guys are part time officials, and every game is a nail biter. i would tweak it alittle by having an official in the booth make the decision. that way the on field referee doesn't have to think about his buddies feelings when over turning a call

I'm with John Madden on this one. Every play in football is now about "was his knee down before the fumble?", "was his arm moving forward before it was hit?", "did he trap that one?" All thanks to instant replay. Guess what, who cares? If it looks like a fumble and smells like a fumble then it's a fumble. When the ground causes the fumble, the official knows right away and rules it down by contact, that never needs to be reviewed anyway. The location of a guy's knee has no bearing on the likeliness that he will cough up the ball. I hate cop outs.


I agree with that statement. When Im watching a game whenever the opposition makes a productive play I immediately start thinking, challenge it, were his feet in? etc its no way to watch a game as a football fan....I am in favor of replay, the challenges are way too long tho and it slows down a game already infested with commercials. Having a ref in the booth would be perfect. Also I think any play in the final 60 seconds should be reviewable, the Kellen Winslow incident where they reviewed his feet not landing in bounds but clearly saw him getting forced out of bounds comes to mind.

I'm on the fence. I do see the need for replay because of the speed of the game and you've got 22 guys out there running around and it's tough to always have the best angles on plays, but at the same time instant replay allows for too much nitpicking with the rules.

I think they just need to continue tweeking the system. I don't see it going away.

Its about getting it right. But we can't expect instant replay to be perfect because at the end we're all human. I say keep it, it works more often than not but there's no way to get the human aspect out of the game because in the end, we're all human. Well outside of Adrian Peterson and "Aquaman" Sean Taylor.

The year before they brought it back was particularly egregious. I forget the teams but there was one play where they misplaced the spot of the ball by like 2 yards on fourth down changing the outcome of the game.

I think they do a really good job in college, especially in the Big 10 which is what I usually watch. There is no challenge system, but the guys upstairs do a really good job in only reviewing truly questionable calls.

Its here to stay and I feel it needs to stay. There is too much going on durn any given play for a hand full of guys to catch everything that goes on. We see all of the time a ref with a bad angle (which they canot alway help) making a call which is clearly the wrong call and getting over turned on replay. I do think that they need to move it to the booth letting someone else review the call as it works much faster and they can usually have the call before the challange is even made.

I think college football is even better when it comes to this. In college "technically every play is reviewed". That way, credit is always given where it is due. I think the NFL should adapt the way college runs the review. I think force outs should be added to the list of things that can be reviewed. Did ya'll see the Browns get screwd at the end of the game last week? Maybe add penelties as well.