REGINA — It was the penalty that’s been the main topic of conversation for Saskatchewan Roughriders fans since the end of Thursday night’s 34-32 loss to the Edmonton Elks at Mosaic Stadium.
Late in the fourth quarter and with the Roughriders looking to potentially take the lead, Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris found receiver Sam Emilus in the back of the end with a perfect touch pass for the go-ahead touchdown.
But Emilus had made contact with a defender during his route — and the officials decided it warranted an offensive pass interference call that took the major off the board.
Here’s what it looked like, and if you don’t automatically go to the spot, it’s at 8:39. Emilus is the receiver at the top of the field.
Needless to say, the Roughriders faithful have been incensed ever since, expressing their rage on social media ever since the call came down.
And on Friday, it was one of the main topics of conversation for all of The SportsCage’s legion of analysts, with the general consensus that it was a bad call at a bad time, but maybe not as bad as some would believe.
First, here’s what the man himself had to say about the play that took away his touchdown.
“Personally I didn’t feel like I pushed him, but I don’t think you make that call in the fourth inside of three minutes, I think you make it in the first or second quarter,” Emilus said during the post-game interviews. “It’s tough, you know. I feel like a touchdown put us in a better position to defend and win, but it’s just tough.”
A diplomatic reply, as one would expect given certain statutes with regards to commenting on officials.
Longtime Canadian sports analyst Farhan Lalji was up first on The SportsCage and was in the camp where there was enough contact to maybe warrant a call.
““I didn’t like it, but I didn’t think it was egregious,” he told the ‘Cage’s Barney Shynkaruk. “He absolutely does get his hand on the defender. He does, and he is attempting to get separation. But does he extend, or was it simply a matter of hand-fighting and that he got contact during the hand-fighting? I think it was more that. I don’t know that there was ever full extension on this play that was enough to have it called back.
“I thought it was marginal. I didn’t like the call, but, again, I don’t think it’s egregious. I think it was close, but I’m not calling that.”
Arash Madani on the other hand, was having none of it on his Coast to Coast segment.
“Terrible,” Madani began when asked for his opinion of the call. “There’s no need, there’s just no need for it. In a game that’s been so excellent and had so much on the go, it’s time to just keep the flag in the pocket unless it’s beyond egregious. And I’m not saying that because I’m on a Regina station, but in general. “That football game had all of it, so let the players decide it.”
Riders Broadcast Network analyst Luc Mullinder had to call the play in real time and voiced his displeasure on air with how it went down, but was a touch more circumspect in the hours after the game.
“I thought that both players had the right to battle it out there, so I thought it was a bad call, but I also wasn’t surprised about the call, where this is a league that’s trying to figure out what is the allowable engagement?” Mullinder said. “It’s getting better, but I think PI is still a little bit inconsistent, because there have been times against the Riders specifically where I felt like the opponent has been done wrong in terms of what they got called for… so I think they’re still trying to figure out what the balance is between a PI call and just hand-fighting.”
Mullinder went on to point out that Emilus did end up with his hands in a bad position and made the call a little too easy for the officials.
“Because Emilus’ hand came over the top and was so exposed, the referee was just like ‘oh yeah, have to throw that’. He just got his hand in a place where the ref saw it too much and it was one of those deals.”
One would think that TSN CFL analyst Glen Suitor would be completely torn on the call, being a former defensive back with 51 interceptions in his career as well as a member of the Riders Plaza of Honour, but he left little to question where he stood.
“Yeah, that’s not interference,” he said matter-of-factly, adding that he’s been harping on this very issue on CFL broadcasts in recent weeks. “I just think this is getting way too far to the soft side of these calls, and it could be offence or defence. These are pro football players, and I’ve said it many, many times, the difference between fighting for a rebound in the NBA and PI, offence or defence, in Canada, it’s more physical under the basket.”
Suitor disagrees so vehemently with the current situation that he feels the CFL and the rules committee should have a chat about fixing things before Labour Day comes around.
“Go through and look at every PI this season and find a consensus on where they’re going to go,” Suitor said. “The precedent right now is if you get close to a guy and breathe on him you might get a penalty. It’s just too soft, and the players don’t like it that way. They want to be able to determine the outcome of that play and they want a little handfighting, the receivers too… that type of jostling position should be allowed and the flag should leave the ref’s pocket only when he has no choice, not ‘pretty close, I’m going to call it'.
“So there needs to be a summit so they can make adjustments, find some consensus, allow the coaches to understand what the standard is and let the guys determine the outcome of plays. I really think that’s where we’re at right now.”
Be sure to check out SportCage.com and the video of the complete show to catch all of the analysts and what they had to say on a wide range of topics.
