Officiating fiasco in Georgia-Texas might give NFL fans ideas

On the surface, it’s irrelevant to the NFL. At a deeper level, it’s potentially highly relevant.

Last night, officials in the Georgia-Texas game threw a flag for pass interference on a play that had ended with the Longhorns picking off a pass and returning the ball to the Bulldogs’ 10. The fans revolted, throwing trash onto the field.

And then the officials picked up the flag. Even though pass interference calls and non-calls aren’t reviewable.

The SEC explained the situation in a statement issued after the Georgia win.

“The game officials gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced, at which time the calling official reported that he erred, and a foul should not have been called for defensive pass interference,” the conference said. “Consequently, Texas was awarded the ball at the Texas 9 yard line.

“While the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed, it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time.

“The disruption of the game due to debris being thrown onto the field will be reviewed by the Conference office related to SEC sportsmanship policies and procedures.”

So the officials changed their minds. After they witnessed the reaction by a crowd that the officials would have to successfully navigate to get out of the stadium.

It’s not a new dynamic, but it’s a reminder that officials can be influenced when it comes to close calls by the basic question of whether they want the walk to the car to go the easy way or the hard way.

Whatever the excuse for the decision to pick up the flag, it looks like the officials cowered in response to the reaction — especially since the reaction didn’t draw a penalty flag. And, again, conduct like that could embolden NFL fans to try the same thing.

That’s why the best approach for officials at any level of any game is to make the calls and deal with the consequences. If you can’t or won’t, you’re in the wrong line of work. And if you give in, you potentially set the stage for other fans in other venues to try even harder to engineer the same outcome.