Wide receivers might benefit if pass interference became a reviewable penalty, but one of the best wide receivers in the business doesn’t want that to happen.
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said today at a pre-Super Bowl event at Georgia Tech that he doesn’t want to see instant replay used on pass interference, even though it could have fixed the missed call in the NFC Championship Game.
“I personally don’t believe there should be review of plays like that. It’s a bang-bang play,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s very subjective, it’s happening so fast, these officials are put in really tough positions. I just don’t think we should do that.”
Fitzgerald said that if anything, he’d like to see pass interference become a less significant penalty by capping the yardage at 15 yards, as is the case in college football.
“Pass interference . . . 40 yards downfield shouldn’t be a 40-yard penalty,” Fitzgerald said.
That’s a surprising stance for a wide receiver, but he proposed a deal he’d like to strike: In exchange for changing pass interference, which benefits the defense, give the offense an advantage by changing the rule that makes a fumble into the end zone a touchback, and allow the offense to retain possession. That proposal from Fitzgerald drew a round of applause from those gathered at the event in Atlanta.
