Even the man who benefited most from the controversial end-of-game call last night admits it’s time to end the lockout.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, whose team “earned” a win because of the disputed simultaneous catch call, called for the return of regular refs after the game.
“It’s time for it to be over,” Carroll said, via Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times. “It’s time for this to be over. My hat’s off to these officials. They’re doing everything they can to do it as well as they can. They have great pride. They’re working their tails off. It demonstrates how difficult it is. It’s a very, very complex process to handle these games and make these decisions. There’s nothing easy about it, and it takes years and years of experience to pull it off properly and in a timely fashion and keep the flow of the game alive and all that.
“It’s time for it to be over. The league deserves it. Everybody deserves it.”
The Packers have a different version, some profane, of what they deserve.
While Seattle was called for 14 penalties to Green Bay’s 10, the Seahawks were the beneficiaries of several calls prior to the final one.
The roughing-the-passer penalty against Erik Walden negated a Green Bay interception, and a questionable pass interference call went their way on a first-and-25.
Carroll striking a gracious note doesn’t help the Packers, or the situation. But it speaks clearly to the exasperation of everyone involved.