Thursday Night Football Incident

[MrFbOfficial]

What are your thoughts about this incident that occurred last night during the Thursday Night NFL Game between the San Diego Chargers and the San Francisco 49ers?  I saw this live during the game last night and thought it would be a good discussion piece for this forum. 

[yt=425,350]M7RDNBAgdBk[/yt]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7RDNBAgdBk

[TXMike]

The player is claiming he did not know it was an official he was pushing back. The U was in front of him, if he did not realize it was an oficial it was because he did not care who it was. The reaction of the L was interesting. Looked like he was protecting the player from the U.

[LarryW60]

I only work Fed rules, but he would have definitely been flagged for that at this level.  First of all he's mixing it up with an opponent and the officials are letting that slide (probably because they're both going at it).  So Smith is already skating on paper-thin ice.  But when the officials are separating the two players, Smith shoves the official's arm out of the way.  Fed rules are clear on this: Intentionally contacting an official is a USC.  If Smith offered up a verbal tidbit to go with the shove, now that's two USC's and a disqualification irrespective of anything else he might have done earlier in the game.

[cougar729]

Wait for it.... Wait for it.... The Umpire, Garth DeFelice is from.... San Diego....

[cincybearcat]

does anyone else feel like the U was being a little over-agressive in this situation?  i can see getting between the players and extending the forearm...but then pushing the player back with that forearm?  i just don't think that's nescesary.  btw, i agree w/ the ejection, i just wonder if the players reaction would have been differently had he not been getting pushed back a little?  just a thought.

[Welpe]

Fed rules are clear on this: Intentionally contacting an official is a USC.  

Intentionally contacting an official is a flagrant personal foul.  Not to pick nits but this is an important distinction IMO.

At the NFL level, I think what the Umpire did was OK.  At the high school level, I avoid touching the players at all costs.

[MrFbOfficial]

The reaction of the L was interesting. Looked like he was protecting the player from the U.

I noticed that as well... very interesting indeed.  

For what its worth, the flop by #73 is rather humorous (at the 23 second mark).

[chymechowder]

of course, Garth's thumbs up are for an ejection here.

[williebe]

Garth is one of the best U in the league. I agree with this, players need to be held accountable.

[Mike L]

One of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, but if you think you can mess with Garth you got another think coming.

Wait for it.... Wait for it.... The Umpire, Garth DeFelice is from.... San Diego....

So what? So are the Carey's and Podraza.

[Osric Pureheart]

Put me down in the column that does wonder if the U may well have drawn the push to an extent.  Can't argue with a DQ at the end of it, but I do think that if you go and shove someone whose temper is flaring, you maybe shouldn't be too surprised if he shoves you back.

Intentionally contacting an official is a flagrant personal foul.  Not to pick nits but this is an important distinction IMO.

This is something that confused me, because in NCAA it's unsportsmanlike conduct, and the last time I saw it in the NFL, Mike Carey announced it as unsportsmanlike conduct...

[cougar729]

So what? So are the Carey's and Podraza.

Only because they were playing San Diego, and I'm sure you will hear someone come out this week and point to that fact as a reason he gets ejected.

[williebe]

[yt=425,350]nTwPY3XGIUY[/yt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTwPY3XGIUY He is Garth in action

[Welpe]

This is something that confused me, because in NCAA it's unsportsmanlike conduct, and the last time I saw it in the NFL, Mike Carey announced it as unsportsmanlike conduct...

Yup, in NFHS it is a personal foul.  In all levels the proscribed penalty is an automatic DQ.

[HLinNC]

If he couldn't figure out that was the umpire then Smith is blind.  It does look though like after Smith pushed him, DeFelice starts to go back after him and then goes "Oh, wait, here's my flag, BOOM!"  The LJ appears to talk to the U while shielding the player.

[LarryW60]

For what its worth, the flop by #73 is rather humorous (at the 23 second mark).

I had to laugh at that myself.  It was a flop worthy of professional soccer.

What you guys didn't hear was what the U was saying just before he grabbed his flag:

"What? You want a piece of me?!  YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?!"

[TxSkyBolt]

does anyone else feel like the U was being a little over-agressive in this situation? 

Yes

[GAHSUMPIRE]

Obviously, I was not on the field to hear was was said before,during or after the contact, but it did seem to me that the U was the aggressor in this instance.

It was a tight game (7-0), and up to that point, the game did not seem to be overly "chippy". I had not noticed a lot of other stuff happening like that- at least no more than normal, and I realize that technically, Smith's act warranted the penalty that was received, but from the comfort of my sofa, it didn't seem like that big a deal.

After the play, the U was in between Smith and the offensive player, but he was also between Smith and his side of the line of scrimmage. Did Smith contact the U in an attempt to get at the offensive player, or was he simply trying to get back to his side of the line of scrimmage? Hard to tell from where I was sitting.

That being said, Mr. DeFelice did not get to where he is by accident. He is good at what he does, and therefore I gotta believe he got it right, even if it didn't look all that pretty.

[AlUpstateNY]

Aggressively contacting an official is on the same level as aggressively contacting your mother.  There is never justification, never an excuse and never an acceptable explanation.  It is ALWAYS a flagrant foul, and the player is gone.

[110]

does anyone else feel like the U was being a little over-agressive in this situation?  i can see getting between the players and extending the forearm...but then pushing the player back with that forearm? 

Agreed entirely.

[cincybearcat]

Aggressively contacting an official is on the same level as aggressively contacting your mother.  There is never justification, never an excuse and never an acceptable explanation.  It is ALWAYS a flagrant foul, and the player is gone.

just to clarify I DO agree, don't take my initial comment to mean I am excusing the player for intentionally contacting an official

[VALJ]

The U may have been a touch aggressive, but by the time he started getting aggressive he was already in front of the player, IMO.  I don't work the middle often, so I don't know how physical the U's in our area get, but Smith needs to be smarter than that and realize that the guy standing in front of him has stripes on.

Not that it's relevant to the conversation, but I've only ever had one disqualification in 9 years of football and 22 more years of Little League BB and SB.  It was a football game that I was working a wing (LJ, I think) and stepped in between two players who were woofing at each other.  The player in white pushed me out of the way, and earned the rest of the night (and the following game) off.  I felt sick about it the entire way home, and asked the R at our next meeting if it was at least a good EJ.  He told me "I was going to keep him in the game until you told me he pushed you," so at least I got to feel a bit better about it.

[Wettstein]

The U was way too agressive in this instance and he's demonstrated this personality in other games.  In fact, after being pushed aside, his first reaction was to jump back in the player's face.  He needs anger management classes.

[mccormicw]

Aggressively contacting an official is on the same level as aggressively contacting your mother.  There is never justification, never an excuse and never an acceptable explanation.  It is ALWAYS a flagrant foul, and the player is gone.

This is a classic comment.  I can't think of a better analogy.