All articles tagged with #walt anderson
NFL officiating spokesman Walt Anderson defended a controversial illegal contact call in the Texans-Chargers game, explaining the rule and noting that such calls are usually made more leniently to keep the game flowing, raising questions about why it was called in a critical moment.
During a Thanksgiving Day game, a controversial timeout call raised questions about whether it was called before a false start. NFL officiating analyst Walt Anderson explained that officials rely on signals and cannot use instant replay to determine the sequence, and the league prefers officials to grant timeouts when in doubt, which may have influenced the decision in this case.
The NFL made the unprecedented decision to have senior V.P. of officiating Walt Anderson defend a non-call during a game on camera, sparking concerns about selective transparency. The league stated that it has officiating personnel available to answer questions from broadcast partners in real time, but the move to activate the Anderson option raises questions about implicit agreement with network rules analysts. Critics argue that if the NFL is willing to re-hire Dean Blandino for stand-alone games, it would render the current network rules analysts unnecessary.