Last Sunday night, Peter King of TheMMQB.com and I reported on Football Night in America that the league has been discussing centralized replay review, and that the discussions will continue.
The discussions are accelerating.
Per a league source, replay review could be removed from the stadiums and conducted in the league office as soon as 2014. “A lot of people hate” the current system, the source explained.
King explained on tonight’s FNIA that the gigantic Week 14 replay blunder from referee Jeff Triplette has given the possibility of centralized replay by 2014 added momentum. Triplette awarded the Bengals a touchdown, overturning a ruling on the field that BenJarvus Green-Ellis was down by contact short of the goal line. The NFL thereafter admitted that Triplette’s decision, which consumed five minutes and 13 seconds from end of play until announcement of the ruling, was incorrect.
The league has declined to comment on the timing for the possible implementation of centralized replay, but the NFL confirmed via email to PFT that officiating department employee Jay Reid traveled to the NHL’s Situation Room on November 30, as John Kryk of the Toronto Sun recently reported. The league also acknowledged that centralized replay review will continue to be discussed.
If at least 24 owners ultimately want to make the change, the change could be made at the league meetings in March, with a new system in place for the 2014 season.