Seriously
There are times in sports when referees or officials miss calls. Pretty much everyone understands this. Sometimes, those officials are asked about those calls, and sometimes, they are not.
On Thursday night, following the Minnesota Vikings’ 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, referee Tra Blake was asked by a reporter about the game-ending face mask non-call against Sam Darnold that resulted in a safety. Honestly, his explanation might be even worse than the call.
Here’s the quote from Kevin Seifert of ESPN:
Referee Tra Blake said no official had a good look at the face mask on the key sack/safety of Sam Darnold. Pool report: pic.twitter.com/wapBEEZ24V
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) October 25, 2024
Reporter: “On the Vikings last offensive play, it looked as if the quarterback had his face mask pulled. What did you guys see on that play?”
Blake: “Well, on that play, the quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me so I did not have a good look at it. I did not have a look, and I did not see the face mask being pulled, obviously. The umpire had players between him and the quarterback, so he did not get a look at it. He was blocked out as well. So that was the thing, we did not see it so we couldn’t call it. We couldn’t see it.
Well, okay, fine…if the official didn’t see it, he didn’t see it.
Also, here’s a picture of the play in question, courtesy of our own GA Skol:
I can’t believe this is just incompetence. There is too much money on the line. pic.twitter.com/N463p1dDUW
— Craig Williams (@GA_SKOL) October 25, 2024
The official in the white hat is Blake himself…not the umpire, not the back judge, not the side judge, but the head referee. He appears to be about five feet away from Darnold, and he seems to be looking directly at the play. There’s nobody between Blake and Darnold obscuring his view, and it’s pretty darn obvious where Byron Young’s hand is.
At this point, pretty much everyone acknowledges that the call was blown. But Blake’s complete and utter garbage explanation about not being able to see it simply makes it worse.
Again, as I emphasized in the other post I made about this, this one individual call is not the reason the Vikings lost on Thursday night. But, if I may borrow a phrase from noted American legal scholar Judith Sheindlin, please don’t urinate on my leg and attempt to convince me that it’s precipitation.