The NFL has re-embraced transparency in officiating. Kind of. Sort of. At least for a little bit.
Appearing on NFL Network’s GameDay Morning, the NFL’s mouthpiece for officiating had some surprising words escape from his mouth. For the first time since the days of Dean Blandino and Mike Pereira, the league publicly admitted to an officiating mistake.
Actually, two of them.
First, Anderson acknowledged the Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean shouldn’t have been flagged for pass interference after he pulled the jersey of Commanders receiver Noah Brown during the opening drive of the third quarter. Anderson acknowledged that, while the pulling of Brown’s jersey could have been ruled defensive holding before the ball was thrown, it wasn’t a sufficiently significant hindrance to Brown. And thus shouldn’t have been called.
Anderson was somewhat reluctant to say what he said, and for good reason. That’s the kind of thing that can spark a sudden lightning bolt from the ivory tower at 345 Park Avenue. Indeed, Anderson had the demeanor of a kid being told by his parents, “Sure, you can drink that beer. Go ahead. What are you waiting for?”
Anderson apparently got tipsy on the first sip, because then he admitted to a missed roughing the passer call for a hit on Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
It’s critical that the league embrace candor and honesty when it comes to officiating mistakes that everyone sees. Circling the wagons gets people to don tinfoil hats, especially in this age of HEY EVERYONE, GO GAMBLE ON YOUR PHONES!
Still, the best approach is to not make mistakes. While some will always be possible, the league can do more to create the impression that it’s doing everything possible to get the calls right (like full-time officials and a more complete embrace of technology). But if/when calls are gotten wrong, the far better option to pretending it didn’t happen (which the league usually has done) is to admit it.
Yes, there’s risk involved. First, there are more mistakes in a given week than can be covered by the sliver of time they devote to Anderson during a four-hour show. Second, it will piss off the officials to have their mistakes publicized.
As to the former, that’s on the producers of the show, who at times seem to be prioritizing performative nonsense over substance. As to the latter, suck it up. Don’t make mistakes. And own the ones you make.
The NFL needs to do it. Time will tell whether Sunday’s comments from Anderson are an aberration or the start of a trend.
