Replay review in gridiron football
An instant replay can take place in the event of a close or otherwise controversial call, either at the request of a team's head coach (with limitations) or the officials themselves.
[1] Effective in 2019, NFHS gave its member associations the option to allow replay review, but only in postseason games.
[4] A challenge can be made on certain reviewable calls on plays that begin before the two-minute warning and only when a team has at least one timeout remaining in the half.
The referee has up to 90 seconds to watch the instant replay of the play and decide if the original call was correct.
Initially, the referee departed the field of play to a covered booth equipped with a CRT television monitor to consult the video replays.
Eventually the booth was abandoned in favor of portable Microsoft Surface tablets held by an assistant.
A questionable call may not be challenged once the next play is underway, so coaches may be forced to make a quick decision without the benefit of seeing a replay on television or on the stadium screen.
In those cases, the replay official will contact the referee by a specialized electronic pager with a vibrating alert.
[6][7][8][9] One concern about replay that was addressed some years ago was the situation where a coach sought a review of a non-challengeable call (such as being forced out of bounds, or in some cases to challenge a runner down by contact).
Some unusual, and confusing sequences of events can occur during replay stoppages, and most have been addressed through rules clarifications.
Consultants at "Art McNally GameDay Central" monitor all games across the league and queue up the best replay angles and directly assist the referee in making the decision.
Previously, the on-site game referee was the sole arbiter of the review (with input only from the replay official).
While there is occasional controversy over the appropriateness of overturned calls, the system is generally accepted as an effective and necessary way to ensure a fair game.
By consensus, the tipping point for replay being fully and permanently accepted by NFL owners came late in the 1998 season.
[citation needed] The Seattle Seahawks were leading the New York Jets with time running out and the Jets facing a 4th-and-goal situation, when quarterback Vinny Testaverde evaded a pass rush and ran towards the end zone before diving near the goal line.
If Seattle had won this game and the rest of their schedule played out as it ended up doing, they would have earned a wild card spot, but instead they missed the playoffs and coach Dennis Erickson and his entire staff were fired after the season.
Owners could no longer claim that the inability to address such a massive error was tenable,[citation needed] and brought replay back for the 1999 season.
Fans in the Dawg Pound began throwing plastic beer bottles and other objects on the field, in an incident dubbed "Bottlegate".
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue then called to override the referee's decision to end the game, sending the players back onto the field, where the Jaguars ran out the last seconds under a hail of debris.
After reviewing the play from available video angles, the Replay Official decides if the call should be upheld or overturned.
Conference USA used a similar system, but the on-field referee made the decision after viewing a TV monitor on the sideline.
Therefore, systems are quite disparate: they can be as complex as the high-tech custom systems similar as those used in the NFL to as simple as several large screens hooked to a digital video recorder using the direct-to-air feed of the broadcasting entity televising the game or a venue's internal coverage unit.
In 2005, the Big Ten, MAC, and SEC only allowed broadcast video (for games that are televised) to be used to determine the correct call.
[25] The current rule was instituted by new CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie in August 2017 and took immediate effect.
Ambrosie said in a statement that fans had been very clear they wanted a change concerning the video review system.
[29] The CFL added several other penalties, among them offensive pass interference, illegal contact, and roughing the kicker or passer, to its list of reviewable calls in 2016.
[30] The CFL Command Centre in Toronto has replay officials which conduct all reviews, rather than using a booth on the sidelines.
[32] Video replay is used by the referees and governing bodies, only with the interest of improving safety and deterring egregious actions within sport.
[32] For this intent, videos that demonstrate an egregious offence within sport must undergo the appropriate video submission process whereby a member must provide a written request to review the incident, to the conference's chief operating officer, and copy the opposing institution within 48 hours after the conclusion of the game.
If the behaviour under review is deemed to have been a violation, the officer may impose sanctions reflecting the severity of the action, which are effective immediately.
