So the NFL has filed its statement on the matter, but readers are still asking about a portion of the NFL rulebook that appears to suggest Commissioner Roger Goodell has the authority to overturn Golden Tate's controversial game-winning touchdown catch at the conclusion of Monday night's affair between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.
Under the "Unfair Acts" portion of the rules, the Commissioner "has sole authority to investigate and to take appropriate disciplinary or corrective measures if any club action, nonparticipant interference, or emergency occurs in an NFL game which he deems so unfair or outside the accepted tactics encountered in professional football that such action has a major effect on the result of a game."
We reached out to league spokesman Greg Aiello, who told Around the League on Tuesday that the relevant section of the rulebook boils down to this: "The Commissioner will not apply his authority under this section (UNFAIR ACTS) when a club registers a complaint concerning judgmental errors or routine errors of omission by game officials. Games involving such complaints will continue to stand as completed."
Aiello confirmed Goodell "does not have authority to change the outcome of a game when it concerns judgmental errors or routine errors of omission by game officials."
There were plenty of those Monday night, but asking Goodell to step in and reverse the Packers' fate falls outside the rules.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
