About That No-Call

By now we've all seen it.

I'm talking, of course, about the final play of Monday's game between the Panthers and Patriots.

With only seconds remaining, Tom Brady had worked the ball down to the Panthers' 18 yard line. Down just 4 points, he needed to throw a touchdown and only had time for one final play. He took the snap, scrambled for a moment, then set up and unleashed toward his favorite target, TE Rob Gronkowski, only to see the pass intercepted in the end zone by Robert Lester.

The crowd went nuts! The Carolina Panthers, a team that started the season ranked 23 of 32, had just upset the New England Patriots, and just a week after upsetting the 49ers in San Francisco. They had defeated legitimate contenders in back-to-back weeks, and had won 6 consecutive games. There could be no question that, for the first time in a long time, the Carolina Panthers were for real.

Then they saw the flag.

From the back of the endzone an official had witnessed an infraction of some sort. Everyone in the stadium knew the consequence: the game could not end on a penalty on the defense. The offense would be allowed one extra play, and a penalty in the endzone meant the ball would be placed on the one yard line.

Tom Brady would have one more chance.

The crowd held its collective breath as the officials gathered to discuss the call. The decision would be HUGE. The game would come down to this. Even Mike Tirico paused his league-sponsored blather as he awaited the announcement from the official. An image came to mind of Jon Gruden staring at him across the booth with a look that said "STFU for a minute and let me hear the call!"

It seemed inevitable that the Patriots, if given a second chance, would punch the ball in for the game-winning score. A defensive stop was out of the question, even for the hometown fans. Across the nation, Raiders fans, Jets fans, Ravens fans-- really all fans of any other team-- were momentarily thinking to themselves "I can't believe it's going to happen again."

Then the announcement came. There was no penalty on the play. The game was over. The Panthers had won.

(AP Photo/Bob Leverone)

Chaos erupted in Bedlam Carolina. In the stands, the people jumped up and down; hats were thrown; beverages were tossed; hugs and kisses and high-fives; and friendly punches fell harder than intended. But no pain was felt, for the Panthers had pulled off the greatest win in recent memory.

On the field, the Panthers rejoiced. Helmets were thrown, gatorade was dumped, and somewhere Steve Smith was yelling joyous obscenities into the midnight air. Cam Newton, with his iconic towel draped over his head, put on a face that he had practiced many times before. As the quarterback and captain, he had to show that he was unfazed, that he had expected to win all along. I think that's unfair-- no one else expected it.

Tom Brady was furious, and immediately chased the referee off the field for an explanation. Millions of people across America heard the "Golden Boy" scream a word that I'm too classy to print here, directed unequivocally at an official-- an offense for which he was not fined.

Bill Belichick, off camera, was no doubt crossing sleeveless arms across his chest and thinking what the rest of the world had been thinking just moments before: "I can't believe it happened again", while his tight-end, Rob Gronkowski (not the murderer) was still in the endzone, merely shrugging.

And that was the strangest part.

In the wake of the call, many sought an explanation for why the penalty was rescinded. The referee had merely announced the result of the play, without any sort of elaboration on the reasoning behind the decision, and had immediately sprinted off the field, leaving millions of baffled Americans to their best guesses.

Former referee Gerry Austin was in the booth with Gruden and Tirico and defended the official, claiming the ball was deemed "uncatchable" and that the right call had been made. Next to him, Jon Gruden struggled to contain himself and bear-hugged/threatened Austin during his enactment of the infraction, concluding, once again, that he would simply never understand the rules surrounding "pass interference" calls.

Patience wearing thin (Ben Koo)

After the game, the MNF crew-- Stuart Scott, Trent Dilfer, Steve Young, and Ray Lewis-- provided perhaps the most entertaining interpretation. They too reenacted the play, demonstrating it down on the field, and still failed to arrive at a reasonable defense for how the game had ended. Dilfer and Young, offensive geniuses in their day (well, one of them was) blasted the call and lambasted the official for waving the penalty off, while Ray Lewis, the eternal defender, could summon no enthusiasm in defense. Instead, he mumbled something vaguely resembling an admission that he did not even know the rules.

It seemed clear as day. Luke Kuechly has his hands wrapped around Gronk well before the ball was intercepted. His head was not turned, and he made no attempt to play the ball. If it wasn't pass interference or holding, it certainly qualified as face-guarding. Yet the penalty had been waived off, and the game declared over. It was a scam, a travesty, and it would be the majority of the talking points on ESPN for days to come.

As I looked on in glee (for I had clinched a fantasy victory on that very play)... (oh yeah, and I hate the Patriots) I tried to explain the call to my roommate. If the ball was tipped, pass interference was invalid, but it seemed no defender touched the pass until Lester made the interception, and by that point, Kuechly and Gronk had already been flamenco dancing for 7-8 yards. Contact began well before the ball was touched. Try as I might, even I failed to justify the no-call.

"If Gronk had sold it better, he would have gotten the call," my roommate concluded, and I agreed.

Then the question hit me: why hadn't he?

(ESPN/NFL)

It was so simple! There was so much immediate talk of conspiracy and controversy; of Newton's game-winning drive, and of Brady's drive that nearly replaced it; that the simplest, most logical explanation eluded even the most astute observers.

Steve Young criticized the call for being subjective: how could an official accurately asses what 6' 6", 265-pound Gronk was capable of? Never before had the league seen a receiver as large and dynamic as Gronk-- in a single season he broke the NFL record for receiving TDs and yardage by a TE. No one could rightly establish that pass as uncatchable, as long as it was within yards of Gronk's seven-foot wingspan. Many would go on to echo his sentiment the next day.

But no one else pointed out the obvious: Gronk never even tried. He simply didn't care.

The position would be unfair if unfounded, as it is an assault on Gronk's attitude, work-ethic, and dedication to his team. But it is actually very founded, and supported by numerous examples from throughout his career.

This season alone, his own teammates even questioned his dedication when he delayed his return from injury earlier this year. And just this past week he was blasted by the media for making racially insensitive remarks during a Q&A session with his own fans!

To me, it seems very feasible that Gronk would have got the call if he had reacted differently. He has 3 inches and 30 pounds on the linebacker that"carried him out of the endzone", and when you watch the replay, you see him make little to no effort to go back toward the ball.

"It's over," he seems to be saying to himself. "Oh well."

It seems like he has better things to do.

Gronk poses with adult film star, Bibi Jones (everywhere)

And, come to think of it, maybe he does.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the sequence: Gronk's Greatest Gaffes. Coming Soon!