Who is Demar Hamlin

 Until that fateful Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Demar Hamlin was a relatively unknown commodity in the football world.  He was simply a second year defensive player, who made contributions on the defensive side of ball to ensure he gave his team the best chance of winning games.  He would probably do anything in his power for that still to be the case.  Unfortunately, when he was involved in a tackle on the Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, his world was turned upside down when he collapsed on the field upon completion of the play.  After coming to his feet, he immediately tumbled to the turf, where it was determined that his heart had stopped, and CPR must be performed.  Through the use of an AED device, his heart was restarted and he was transported to the hospital.  Instantly, much of the country’s thoughts and prayers were for and with the Buffalo Bills safety.  Over the next several days, Demar Hamlin was at the top of people’s minds.  As a result, prayers were held on the air of ESPN, and other teams in the NFL were holding prayer gatherings before games.  Within days, Hamlin was communicating with teammates and family, and in a matter of a couple weeks, he was released from the hospital, and recently attended at Buffalo Bills home game.  Though this is not a desired manner to gain notoriety, Hamlin knew that God was using him in a different way for now.  Events like these bring people into into unity of cause, like nothing else can regrettably.  For unknown reasons, tragedy is one of the few things that allows people to put differences aside.  Though many now know who Demar Hamlin is, it is now necessary to explore other aspects of Hamlin’s life.

Beginning in 2016, Hamlin’s college career commenced with the University of Pittsburgh, after being named Defensive Player of the Year with Central Catholic High School.  After steady improvement year over year at the University of Pittsburgh, Hamlin was drafted in the 6th round by the Buffalo Bills in the 2021 NFL draft.  Though he had a lackluster inaugural season, in 2022, he had accrued 91 total tackles through 15 games.  Hope springs eternal that Hamlin will eventually be able to build on these solid numbers and have a long NFL career.

Even though it remains to be seen whether Demar Hamlin is able to resume his NFL career, he is expected to make a full recovery.  According to doctors, Hamlin suffered what is called commotio cordis, a rare condition caused by mild blunt force trauma to the chest.  In light of this, it would seem unlikely that he would ever be able to play football again.  However, to the Bills organization’s credit, they have agreed to pay out the remainder of Demar Hamlin’s contact.  In a story that could have had many negative outcomes, it has ended in the most positive way possible.

NFL Appears to Admit Subpar Officiating Ocurred in Game that Dictated Lions Playoff Fate

 Here we go again…NFL officiating once again affects the Lions organization.  History will show that inept officiating has influenced outcomes in games far to often.  The question is: Is the National Football League finally ready to take action to rectify the situation.  According to league sources, they are.  Although anonymous, executives are indicating that the officiating in the Rams-Seahawks game, which also affected the Detroit Lions playoff destiny, was the worst officiated game of the season.  Among the discussion taking place with the powers at be, is more training for officials.  However, it would behoove the league to add disciplinary consequences for incompetent field officiating.  Despite immediate actions that appeared to be taken by the league, longer term solutions still need to be implemented to maintain the integrity of the game.

To avoid scenarios that occurred in the Rams-Seahawks game, the NFL appears ready to implement policies to sure up officiating on the field.  In the past, the NFL said the proper things to ensure the proper changes took place, but those plans were never fully implemented.  Now, there seems to be more agreement than ever that it is finally time to make meaningful adjustments to the way in which officiating operates.  Some of those changes include more training for officials.  To show the importance of this issue, it is incumbent on league leadership to go a step further by ensuring that field officials are full time employees to give them time to hone their craft, and complete training that may be needed from season to season.  Furthermore, disciplinary consequences need to be attached for officials that habitually continue to get calls wrong.  This should include, suspensions, fines, and ultimately firings, for the worst offenders. If many of these policies are adopted, officiating would improve, and errors would be minimal.

During recent history, poor officiating has seemingly had a disproportionate effect on scoring outcomes in Lions games.  One of the most prominent instances of this was Calvin Johnson’s catch that wasn’t.   When this occurred Calvin Johnson made a catch in the end zone, only losing the ball when attempting to stand up to his feet after the catch.  At the time, this resulted in an incomplete pass, nullifying the touchdown.  Later, the rule was changed, requiring the receiver to “complete the process” of catching the ball, the rule would informally become known as the “Calvin Johnson Rule.”  If such a rule was in effect at the time, that catch would have been ruled a touchdown.  In a game that was that had a bit more consequence, a bad call would bite the Lions once again, when a pass interference call was rescinded against the Dallas Cowboys in the 2014 playoffs, which would ultimately result in a game winning drive by Dallas on the ensuing possession.  Inevitably, the history of Lions success may be a little different, had some officiating policies been in place when the aforementioned events took place.  Now, the powers at be have an opportunity to redeem themselves, hopefully they take advantage of it.

Though wholesale changes are difficult to implement in the middle of a season, it would appear the league is attempting to get calls as correct as possible under the given rules. It was apparent that in recent games officials would confer with one another frequently, in theory, to ensure they got calls correct.  Along with this, after the conference it appeared calls were changed more often than usual.  This leads one to wonder if certain calls were changed by the review booth.  If his is the case, this is a good thing because games are being called more accurately, and human error has less of an impact on the game.  Yes, it may add length to the game, but at least the call is right, which is in the best interest of all involved.

For too long, it seems like poor officiating in the National Football League has not been addressed properly.  The right things are articulated from a communications standpoint, but as of now, enough action has not been taken to rectify the issue.  As a result, teams have been inhibited from achieving their highest potential.  Lately, however, there is enough dissatisfaction with the officiating product, the NFL may be compelled to act. If they choose to modify officiating policies on a meaningful level, a more balanced and fair game will result.

Refs in Rams-Seahawks game is Major Reason Why the Lions Missed Playoffs

 Despite having an unexpected tremendously successful season, the Detroit Lions will miss the playoffs for the fifth straight year.  Though this is due to the team’s poor play through the first seven games of the season, part of the blame can be placed on the officiating in a game the Lions were not even a part of.  In order to achieve a playoff berth, the team needed the Los Angeles Rams to defeat the Seattle Seahawks, and subsequently beat the Green Bay Packers themselves.  Even though, the Lions were able to beat the Packers Sunday Night, the Rams could not beat the Seahawks (and the refs) earlier that afternoon.  It is quite evident that if the Rams-Seahawks game had more accurate officiating, the Lions may be preparing for a playoff game this coming weekend.  In my estimation, several infractions were missed or called incorrectly, and were pivotal to the final outcome of the game.  To eliminate such fiascos from occurring in the future, the replay system must be expanded greatly, thus this would minimize the effect of human error on game results.

To avoid such a predicament of having to rely on other teams’ performances to determine whether they make the playoffs in the future, it is imperative that the Lions play more consistently at the beginning of the season.  Needless to say, if this happened this year, the Lions could have held their destiny in their own hands.  But the fact is, at the start of the season, defense was non-existent, and the offense struggled as well.  Not many games can be won when you struggle on both sides of the ball.  Though the team corrected many of the issues experienced earlier in the year, it turned out it was to little, to late to make a playoff appearance.

Because the Lions were required to allow their playoff chances to be dictated by the performance of other teams due to their early season woes, they also had to hope the officiating was competent enough to ensure the most accurate result was achieved in the game that determined their future.  Unfortunately, for the Lions and their fans, this task would prove to be difficult to achieve, since officials managed to rule on 4 major infractions incorrectly.  As a result, the outcome of the game may have been impacted.  One of the the first calls that may have done this occurred when the Rams were called for running into the Seahawks kicker on a punt attempt.  Therefore, the Seahawks were awarded a first down, and kept possession of the ball, leading to a field goal, which tied the game.  To add insult to injury, Quandre Diggs should have been called for taunting for pointing at the Rams bench with the football after intercepting a pass, which would have inhibited their offensive progress on the ensuing drive.  On another Seahawks possession, Jalen Ramsey was called for unnecessary roughness on Geno Smith, inevitably extending the Seahawks offensive opportunity.  It is quite obvious that every pivotal call in this game seemed to benefit the Seattle Seahawks, meaning the outcome of this game may have been unfairly determined.  As a result, the Lions playoff destiny may indeed be unjustified.

To minimize the impact of human error on game results, the time has come to implement changes to the replay system in the NFL.  Since the goal of the league is to get every call correct, major modifications are in order.  For starters, every play should be subject to review, either by coaches’ challenge or booth review.    In addition, booth reviews, and challenges should be unlimited.  Yes, calls will still be missed by coaches, referees, and the review booth, but the instances of error would be further reduced.  All parties should applaud these changes in order to achieve the stated goal of officiating games as accurately as possible.

If the Lions would have had the good fortune of improved play, better officiating in certain games, and improved replay policies, we may be discussing a playoff appearance at this moment.  Hopefully, all of these facets will converge in the future to help this team achieve the highest possible goal of a Super Bowl Championship.  Though a team must overcome adversity to win championships, unnecessary adversity can be created by unneeded and avoidable human error.  It is undeniable that changes to the review and challenge system are needed, and if changes are implemented, it will go a long way in ensuring integrity and fairness are maintained in the game.