Football Fans: When Is Enough, Enough?

As I have stated before, I am not just a football nut, but a Georgia Bulldog.  Some of you, if you didn’t see the Bulldogs play, may have seen the recap of the call at the end of the game this Saturday that many say swung the momentum.  It was an unsportsmanlike penalty for excessive celebration called on AJ Green, Georgia’s playmaker wide receiver.

Now it just happens that I know the white hat (referee) who was in charge of the crew at the Dawg’s game Saturday.  So I took the opportunity to talk to him about the call AND about what has happened since.

Let me first address what has happened since Saturday.  Apparently an upset Georgia fan somehow found his email and posted it somewhere on the web for other Bulldog faithful to find.  And his inbox has been flooded every since.

Now, something that all football fans need to understand is that the referee doesn’t make that many of the calls in a football game.  Most of the time he makes sure that his crew is in position to make their calls, confers with them to make sure they apply the rules correctly, checks with the booth for replay decisions (he doesn’t make them) and unfortunately for him, delivers the bad news to one side via his microphone.

So to all my UGA brethren,  first know this:  the referee (white hat) didn’t throw the flag Saturday and didn’t even see what caused the penalty.  The back judge made the call.  And just like many of you, I didn’t understand the call because I didn’t see ANYTHING on camera that would have caused the penalty.

But to single this guy out with venomous emails just isn’t the right thing to do.  And some fans have sent multiple emails.  Now I believe that if you pay your money and go to the game, you can holler at the refs all you want.  And I have done a little work in the striped shirts in my day.  And you have to have thick skin and the ability to be deaf when you are on the field of play.  But I don’t believe that we as fans, football or any other sport, have the right to hunt these guys down and continue to harass them for days after a game.

And besides, if we had a good old fashioned junkyard dawg defense, it wouldn’t have made a difference in the game, but we don’t.

Now as to the call.  Apparently it wasn’t what was shown on camera that drew the flag.  It was something that occurred after the cameras had turned away from the excitement in the end zone as Green celebrated with his teammates.   I really can’t go into any more detail and I wasn’t at the game, but I think that it’s time for the Bulldog Nation to let it go. And I say that as one who bleeds red and black.

And I think it’s time for football fans as a whole to think about how we may let our emotions and loyalties cause us to cross some lines that we just should never cross.   Maybe the guy blew the call, who really knows at this point.  But is it right to hunt a guy down (and the wrong guy at that) and try to make him miserable over a football game?

Sorry, I love the Dawgs, but I just don’t agree with that approach.