Senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron deemed an apparent non-called pass interference not an infraction against San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner late in Sunday night's thriller in Seattle.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll disagrees.
"Yeah, that was pass interference," Carroll said on 710 ESPN, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. "I think they could have looked at that again in more depth. If I'd had had a timeout, I'd have called it there ... You give them time to make a choice so they're not rushed and hopefully clear heads prevail and they can see it. That's unfortunate. It was a big moment right there in the game."
With 15 seconds left on third down from the 6-yard-line, Russell Wilson zipped a pass towards tight end Jacob Hollister in the end zone that fell incomplete. It appeared Warner tugged the tight end's arm, but the play went uncalled. Despite owning the ability to review the play, the NFL officiating office didn't buzz down to take a closer look. Wilson's next pass to Hollister came an inch short of the goal-line, costing Seattle the NFC West title in a 26-21 loss.
After the game, Riveron told pool reporter Tim Booth he did look at the play but deemed it not a penalty.
"Well, we actually looked at it here in New York," Riveron said. "We had a great look. NBC gives us a great look of the entire route. So, we actually did perform a review, but based on what we saw, we didn't see enough to stop the game. But we did review it. What we see is, we see the offensive player come in and initiate contact on the defensive player -- nothing that rises to the level of a foul which significantly hinders the defender, nothing that is clear and obvious through visual evidence, which hinders the defender. The defender then braces himself. And there is contact then by the defender on the receiver. Again, nothing which rises to the level of a foul based on visual evidence. Nothing happens that rises to the level of a foul while the ball is in the air before it gets there by either player."
It's fair to say Carroll and many others have a much different view of the play.
