Was 1977 the most referee-affected season ever?

[7DnBrnc53]

I bring this up after JaguarGator's latest You Tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSKETdQsEaE&t=432s

Not only was there this call, but you have the mishap on the kickoff in the Oilers@Bengals Week 7 game, the phantom fumble late in the Week 14 Patriots@Colts game, and the Rob Lytle call in the AFC Title Game.

[Gary Najman]

The following season , the NFL added a seventh official, the side judge. Previously, the head linesman covered by himself one sideline, while in the other sideline were two officials, the line judge and the back judge. In the Rob Lytle fumble, the play was erroneously called by the head linesman, Ed Marion (#26).

[Bryan]

I bring this up after JaguarGator's latest You Tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSKETdQsEaE&t=432s

Not only was there this call, but you have the mishap on the kickoff in the Oilers@Bengals Week 7 game, the phantom fumble late in the Week 14 Patriots@Colts game, and the Rob Lytle call in the AFC Title Game.

The video was incomprehensible. What on earth was the guy talking about? Verbatim, "the most controversial lateral in NFL history" is....Week 4, 1977 regular season 1st quarter of the Vikings-Lions game where Ahmad Rashad laterals to Sammy White for a TD. OF COURSE!

The sad part is that, despite JaguarGator's claims, AT BEST you can't tell if White stepped out of bounds. I honestly thought that the video close up didn't show any part of White's foot being out of bounds. I don't even know if it can be classified as 'clickbait'.

Back on topic, 1976 postseason Steelers destroy Baltimore 40-14. 1977 regular season, Colts beat Steelers 31-21 as Steelers called for 17 penalties for 122 yards compared to Baltimore's 3 for 20.

[Gary Najman]

1977 regular season, Colts beat Steelers 31-21 as Steelers called for 17 penalties for 122 yards compared to Baltimore's 3 for 20.

I searched for that game and I found that the Colts got 9 first downs due to Steelers' penalties, who was a record at the time (I don't know if it has been broken).

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

I actually recently researched the 77 season and how it affected officiating for a chapter of Red, White, and Columbia Blue, which is about the 79 Oilers. Yes, the side judge was added in 78 as a result of 77.

Good memory on the Oilers/Bengals play! That cost the Oilers the game and possibly a spot in the playoffs. The Bert Jones no-fumble call in the Colts Patriots game put the Colts in the playoffs over Miami if I remember right....

Then you had the famous call in the AFC Championship but also a Jack Doblin touchdown catch for Denver that was ruled incomplete but would have had a good chance to be overturned by replay today....

All of those calls in 1977 led to a kind of replay experiment in the 1978 preseason. Art McNally directed it...ultimately the league voted against replay and Rozelle said they didn't want to be at the "mercy of the camera" and "what if the ref sees holding while reviewing a catch?" The main legitimate point he made was that they calculated that 12-14 cameras were needed...if you're old enough to remember 70s NFL, they had maybe two or three camera angles....wasn't reasonable and it was cost-prohibitive at the time....

Then you had the Renfro Play in the 79 AFC Championship and that is usually credited with speeding the whole replay thing up but the seeds certainly were planted in 77.

[Brian wolf]

Wasnt 1998 another bad year for officials calls, that decided
games ? I remember a game where the officials ruled Testaverde of the Jets scoring a TD when he was short of the goalline. I thought Phil Luckett called this game but wasnt sure ?

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Wasnt 1998 another bad year for officials calls, that decided
games ? I remember a game where the officials ruled Testaverde of the Jets scoring a TD when he was short of the goalline. I thought Phil Luckett called this game but wasnt sure ?

If I remember right, that was the year of the famous Jerry Rice fumble in the playoffs against the Packers that didn't get called and then Owens caught the game-winning touchdown. The NFL didn't use replay that year, they paused it for at least one season and that was it....can't remember why they stopped it for a year...does anyone remember?

[Gary Najman]

I actually recently researched the 77 season and how it affected officiating for a chapter of Red, White, and Columbia Blue, which is about the 79 Oilers. Yes, the side judge was added in 78 as a result of 77.

Good memory on the Oilers/Bengals play! That cost the Oilers the game and possibly a spot in the playoffs. The Bert Jones no-fumble call in the Colts Patriots game put the Colts in the playoffs over Miami if I remember right....

Then you had the famous call in the AFC Championship but also a Jack Doblin touchdown catch for Denver that was ruled incomplete but would have had a good chance to be overturned by replay today....

All of those calls in 1977 led to a kind of replay experiment in the 1978 preseason. Art McNally directed it...ultimately the league voted against replay and Rozelle said they didn't want to be at the "mercy of the camera" and "what if the ref sees holding while reviewing a catch?" The main legitimate point he made was that they calculated that 12-14 cameras were needed...if you're old enough to remember 70s NFL, they had maybe two or three camera angles....wasn't reasonable and it was cost-prohibitive at the time....

Then you had the Renfro Play in the 79 AFC Championship and that is usually credited with speeding the whole replay thing up but the seeds certainly were planted in 77.

In 1978 you have to blown whistle in the Browns-Steelers game when Larry Anderson fumbled the opening kickoff in overtime.

[Gary Najman]

I actually recently researched the 77 season and how it affected officiating for a chapter of Red, White, and Columbia Blue, which is about the 79 Oilers. Yes, the side judge was added in 78 as a result of 77.

Good memory on the Oilers/Bengals play! That cost the Oilers the game and possibly a spot in the playoffs. The Bert Jones no-fumble call in the Colts Patriots game put the Colts in the playoffs over Miami if I remember right....

Then you had the famous call in the AFC Championship but also a Jack Doblin touchdown catch for Denver that was ruled incomplete but would have had a good chance to be overturned by replay today....

All of those calls in 1977 led to a kind of replay experiment in the 1978 preseason. Art McNally directed it...ultimately the league voted against replay and Rozelle said they didn't want to be at the "mercy of the camera" and "what if the ref sees holding while reviewing a catch?" The main legitimate point he made was that they calculated that 12-14 cameras were needed...if you're old enough to remember 70s NFL, they had maybe two or three camera angles....wasn't reasonable and it was cost-prohibitive at the time....

Then you had the Renfro Play in the 79 AFC Championship and that is usually credited with speeding the whole replay thing up but the seeds certainly were planted in 77.

I wasn't old enough to remember the 1977 OIlers-Bengals game. Recently I saw the NFL Week in Review plays of that game, but that kickoff wasnt shown. What happened?

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

The Oilers recovered a fumbled kickoff in the end zone and it should have been a game-winning touchdown but it was incorrectly ruled a non-fumble. I think Rozelle even admitted the officiating error. The Oilers lost in overtime.... That happened in October....then the Oilers beat Cincinnati late in the season to knock the Bengals out of the playoffs and put the Steelers in....I'm pretty sure that was the year that the Steelers sent the Oilers Samsonite briefcases as a thank you gift....