At the link below, you can click on the video, "Referees miss pass interference call..." on the right. The view from the side is shown first. I was on the road today, but I will get the video onto my computer later and will count the number of frames between the arrival of the ball and when the defender made contact. It appears to be just a few frames, which would be less than a tenth of a second. I'm sure it would be easy to find many examples in which a defender similarly makes contact a split second early in which there was no call or protest. I can recall cases in which plays were being reviewed when this happened, and the announcers pointed out that the officials allow defenders to arrive a split second early. I don't like that interpretation of the rules. I would prefer that they call interference if the contact occurs before the ball arrives. I would prefer to see it called like it is in baseball. If the first baseman catches the ball before the runner's foot touches the bag, the runner is out -- there is no margin. But the refs do allow a margin for this play in football. Whether I like it or not, it does need to be called consistently, and I believe the call was consistent with the way this type of play is called in football. I don't care what the NFL says. I don't care what the defender says. All I care about is what I see in that play and how it compares with other plays. I am not a sheep that automatically follows the majority.
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www.espn.com]
