So yesterday near the end of the game between the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cleveland Browns, the Browns fans became so incensed that they start throwing bottles of beer on to the field. Sure, the bottles are plastic, but I certainly would not want to get hit by a full plastic bottle chucked from a distance.
The fans who did this were idiots, but the behavior of NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Browns president Carmen Policy were almost as dumb.
The call which angered the Browns was a replay revue of a catch made by a Browns receiver. After viewing the replay, the officials ruled the catch was actually an incomplete pass. Since it was fourth down, that meant the Jaguars were given the ball. So they had first down, with only 48 seconds to go, and a 5 point lead.
With the bottles raining down, the officials and both teams quickly ran into the locker room rather than finish the 48 seconds. Tagliabue actually phoned the officials and ordered them to play the remaining 48 seconds. What is the point of potentially endangering athletes simply to watch the Jaguars take kneel down twice and then walk off the field? That made no sense at all.
The NFL needs to change its rules so that if officials deem there is a potential threat to players and both coaches agree that the outcome of the game is no longer in in doubt, that a game can be halted and a winner declared even if there are a few seconds left on the clock.
Even worse was Browns president Carmen Policy who refused to criticize Browns fans. At a postgame press conference, Policy said, “I don’t think Cleveland will take a black eye from this. I like the fact that our fans care.”
Presumably if a Jaguars fan hit Policy in the head with a bottle of beer, he would not be in the mood for celebrating the fact that Jacksonville fans “care a lot” about the team. When players forget and make throat-slashing signs on the field, they get fined by the league. Hopefully Tagliabue will not restrict his fear about encouraging hooliganism to the players and fine Policy for such a ridiculous remark.