Warning: Conspiracy Theory
Let me preface this by saying I am not some crazy conspiracy theorist digging for evidence that the NFL is secretly trying to get Brett Favre to the Super Bowl. This was merely my natural reaction the very first time I saw what I am about to show you. Mostly, I’m just writing this to see if anybody else out there noticed what I noticed. Ok, here it is…
Late in the first quarter the Packers were driving to try and tie the score at 14. In one of the games most crucial sequences, Bubba Franks caught a 3rd down pass and was marked just shy of the first down. The Packers challenged the spot, and when the ball was re-spotted Franks had just enough for a first down.
Here’s what caught my eye. After the first down is given the official holding the chain pulls it away from the ball (into a position where the spot would have been short), and in doing so he make it look like there was extra slack in the chain during the measurement. You can see it in the video at about the 3:16 mark (if the link doesn’t work, the highlights can easily be found on NFL.com) and in the “before” and “after” pictures below. Additionally (and you can’t see this in the pictures), in the HD broadcast it kind of, sort of, maybe looked like there was some slack in the chain during the measurement. Unfortunately, you can’t get real good look because FOX was showing a replay and only cut to the very end of the measurement (was FOX in on it too?)
Ok. Now let’s debunk this. The most obvious explanation is that the official at the other end of the chain had already picked up his end and started walking away. That would easily explain why there was slack in the chain and everything would be wrapped up in a neat little package. Here’s the problem. I’ve watched a lot of football and I’ve never seen a chain move in that specific motion—and I’ve definitely never seen a chain move in that manner so fast after the first down was awarded. Look at how quickly the chain moves after the first down signal is given. If you’re the official ten yards away from the action on the other end, don’t you think you would wait for the official at the spot of the ball to move the chain before you did? It also looks a little like the official is surprised there was slack in the chain and immediately moves it back in the other direction to cover it up (ok, so that’s this is stretching it a little).
The other piece of evidence that shoots down my little theory is that Franks was initially spotted just inches shy of the first down. Unless the officials re-spotted the ball less than two inches from the initial spot, you can infer that Franks would have gotten the first down. The only counterargument to this is that the re-spotting could have also been part all the foul play (i.e. the officials were arbitrarily re-spotting the ball because they knew the phony measurement would result in a 1st down.)
In the words of Forest Gump, that’s about all I have to say about that. Again, I don’t truly believe all of this—I really just want to know if anybody out there noticed it too. Make of it what you will.
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