In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Lions, Buccaneers tight end Kellen Winslow caught what could have been a game-winning touchdown pass — except that Winslow was called for offensive pass interference, and the Bucs ended up having to settle for a field goal in a game they would lose in overtime.
Now the NFL has told the Bucs the official got the call wrong.
“We got an apology this week on the touchdown to Kellen,” Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “That doesn’t help anything at all. . . . We got a number of those this year which has been real discouraging because we’ve played so many tight games. You can’t have those kind of mistakes.”
Olson may run the risk of being fined by the league office for divulging that the Bucs were told the call was wrong. Bucs head coach Raheem Morris wouldn’t answer reporters’ questions about the call for exactly that reason.
“It’s Christmas, and I just bought a bunch of people gifts,” Morris said. “I like to keep my money.”
Former VP of Officiating Mike Pereira wrote at FOXSports.com that he didn’t think any call should have been made, but that if anything it was Lions defensive back C.C. Brown who should have been flagged for contact with Winslow, not the other way around.
Morris read Pereira’s explanation of the play and endorsed it.
“I did see the old director of officiating had a comment, so you can just read his article and take out of that the context,” Morris said. “I guess that’s legal, so you can read his. Me? I’m going to give you a nice no comment.”