Why no penalty for "using a football as a prop"

[Redbear]

When Holmes did his LeBron chalk-throwing homage?

[nickgutierrez]

1. Because it's a stupid rule.

There's no good reason to potentially turn a Super Bowl because of a stupid rule like that one. The league may fine him, but even that is a pretty silly step.

[BulletproofLandshark]

2. As long as the rule is in place it should be enforced.

It sets a bad precedent to abide by an entirely different set of rules for playoff football. Besides, the refs didn't have any problem with calling every other ticky-tack penalty during the game.

[mduffy31]

16. Hey

Rules is rules

[hughee99]

3. I was wondering the same thing....

The way they called the game, I didn't think they would let that one slide.

[trotsky]

4. Good point.

Although I recall some incidents of that during the regular season that weren't flagged, but a fine was levied after the game.

[Redbear]

5. I know TO was flagged for using one as a pillow

and Ben Watson was flagged for sticking one under his jersey like a baby.

[trotsky]

7. Jared Allen performed life support on one. :-)

No flag, but a big fine later that week. The NFL should really be consistent about that.

[dbackjon]

6. Because the fucking NFL wanted the Steelers to win

A Cardinal doing the same thing would have been flagged and ejected.

[hughee99]

8. I'm not sure about that

but there were a lot of calls (and non-calls) that could have gone either way, and a lot of them seemed to go the Steelers way. This wasn't a "borderline" call though. It was clearly a penalty and wasn't called. The refs can't argue that it wasn't a penalty, but they can claim that they didn't see it. Since the NFL has a policy specific to celebrations, you would have thought at least one of the refs would have had an eye on him.

[LSdemocrat]

9. It was quick and I'm guessing the refs had no idea what he was doing

And if you've never seen the ad in question it just looks like he's shaking the football.

[KamaAina]

11. The announcers certainly didn't

one (Keyshawn Johnson?) thought he was pretending to shake Heinz (as in Field) ketchup out of a football "bottle"!

[qanda]

10. They were probably too busy reviewing the play to see it

The refs can't see everything. One thing I am sick of though is a bunch of whining, crying sore losers talking about the refs wanting Pittsburgh to win. If that were the case, the refs certainly wouldn't have put actual points on the board for Arizona with that holding call. Some people need to get a life.

[hughee99]

12. It was a hold...

but before that, I thought that Pittsburgh was going to take the safety on 4th down if it came to that anyway. With the safety, they could move the ball further down the field than they would on a punt, they wouldn't have to worry about screwing up the punt, and since they were up 6, Arizona was still going to need a TD.

Belichick did this a few years ago in a game against Dallas in the same situation.

[qanda]

13. You may be missing my point

If the refs were so in the bag for the Steelers, they would not have made that call. It makes people who keep saying that the refs handed Pittsburgh the win look ridiculous.

[hughee99]

14. I don't think they could ignore that one.

He tackled the guy (pulled him down while he was falling) in the endzone. I think quite a few of the calls that could have gone either way benefited the Steelers, but hey, that happens in every game. I don't think the refs outright blew any calls except for the endzone celebration, though that was pretty obvious to anyone at home since he did it right in front of the camera. In the end, both teams had their chances and the Steelers came up big while the Cards didn't.

I get your point about the whining, but other than that, I didn't see anything to whine about, and if that's the only real complaint, then it was a pretty well-officiated game.

[Redbear]

15. NFL admits a penalty should have been called. They just didnt see it.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2009-02-04-officiating-review_N.htm

[MrPerson]

17. Because the refs wanted the Steelers to win.

I have no problem with that.