It has been impossible to avoid. Football fans around the country have been complaining about the replacement officials the NFL has hired to take the place of the full time refs who are in the middle of a lock-out with the league since the first week of the preseason. Whether its a replacement or a regular, complaining about officiating is as old as the game itself. But, The inevitable replacement ref disaster finally happened last night (September 24th) when the Seattle Seahawks were awarded a last-second touchdown to win the game against the Green Bay Packers. Are the replacement refs ruining the NFL?

The Seahawks had one last chance to win the game by throwing the ball into the endzone for a touchdown, anything less on that play and the clock would run out giving the Packers the win. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw the ball into the endzone for his receiver Golden Tate, but Green Bay Packers safety M.D. Jennings appeared to come down with an interception and then had it stripped away by Tate while the players were on the ground. By rule the ball should be Green Bay's and the game should be over. The officials conferred for a moment before officially signaling for a touchdown. From that moment on, the simultaneous catch rule was not reviewable, by rule. The call on the field had to stand.

"That was two of the worst calls at the end of a football game that I can remember," an incensed Jon Gruden said on ESPN.

This play will be talked about for the next week, the next year, and will be remembered for as long as the NFL exists. It gives the league a black eye, and Green Bay had a win stolen by replacement refs and by a commissioner more intent on a small part of his bottom line rather than the good of the sport.

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