On one hand, a penalty is a penalty only if a penalty is called.
On the other hand, if a guy admits to a committing a penalty that wasn’t called, plenty of people will think it was a penalty.
That’s precisely what Falcons receiver Roddy White did after Thursday night’s thrilling come-from-behind-after-blowing-a-double-digit-lead win. On the decisive play, it appeared that White shoved Ravens defensive back Josh Wilson. With Wilson out of the way and no help over the top, White caught a pass at the Baltimore 19 and sauntered into the end zone.
White admits that he got away with one.
“Yeah, you’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do to win,” White said, per the Associated Press. “It was one-on-one coverage with one guy. But he was kind of flat-footed, and he tried to grab me, so I just pushed him down.”
Though Ravens fans rightfully should feel that their team was ripped off, the reality is that a Ray Lewis-led defense has no business allowing a team to march right down the field after Baltimore pulled ahead by a point with only 65 seconds to play, with or without an interference penalty that wasn’t called.
UPDATE: White has responded to our item, via Twitter. “I would never admit to pass interference and it’s only interference when they call it,” White said. We stand corrected. He didn’t admit to pass interference. He only admitting to pushing Wilson down.