For a decade as the NFL’s head of officiating, Mike Pereira was the man who had to come forward publicly and defend the infamous tuck rule -- and the referees who applied it under controversial circumstances.
But now Pereira works for FOX, not the NFL, and he says that the league needs to ditch the tuck rule.
“I think it’s time to change this rule,” Pereira writes at FOXSports.com. “A pass should only be ruled incomplete if the ball comes loose in the actual act of passing the ball. If it comes loose in the tucking motion, then it should be a fumble.”
Pereira opined on the tuck rule because it was applied on Sunday, when Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel went back to pass and dropped the ball when he was hit by Baltimore’s Lardarius Webb. On the field, referee Mike Carey ruled it a fumble. But on replay, Carey said it was an incomplete pass because of the tuck rule.
Pereira said Carey properly applied the rule as it’s written, just as Pereira has always said referee Walt Coleman properly applied the rule when he overturned what appeared to be a Tom Brady fumble in a playoff game against the Raiders nine years ago. But now Pereira says the rule needs to be scrapped.
“I would support a rule change, although it took me a long time to get to this point,” Pereira said. “I’m sure it’s no consolation to the many Raiders fans around the country.”