Heavily Penalized Rams Have Beef About the Calls That Caused Grief

When the Rams re-examine their 24-19 loss to the New York Giants Sunday, they will see red and yellow.

Red is for anger, something the Rams did their best to conceal following a game filled with strange and perplexing occurrences. Yellow is for flags, and many of them. Twelve times the game officials pulled the yellow handkerchiefs from their back pockets; 10 times they tossed them toward the Rams. In all, the Giants would gain 99 yards and 5 first downs because of Ram penalties.

The Rams would benefit from two New York penalties, good for 15 yards and not much else.

This would have been acceptable had the Rams left the Tri-State area with their ninth victory. Instead, they departed with a second defeat and enough indignation to occupy them during a cross-country charter flight.

Three calls in particular annoyed the Rams, enough so to cause Coach John Robinson to turn new shades of crimson without benefit of direct ultraviolet rays. Afterward, in the Ram locker room, Robinson had recovered from his brief fit. He calmly congratulated the Giants for a game well played and carefully shooed inquiries about the officiating to a remote corner.

“The thing that irritates me about all these things after the game, is that they aren’t the game,” he said. “The game is the people that play it. They (the officials) control some things, but damn it, the people who play it deserve the attention and both the guys who won and the guys who lost.”

Maybe so, but, gosh darn it, referee Jerry Markbreit and his crew of six earned a bit of attention, too.

The festivities began in the fourth period, as the Giants attempted to increase a 17-16 lead. About 12 minutes remained in the game when New York quarterback Phil Simms attempted a long pass to wide receiver Bobby Johnson. The Giants, with the ball on their own 43, needed 23 yards for a first down--usually a nice situation for a defense.

Simms threw, Johnson ran, cornerback LeRoy Irvin bumped and field judge Bill Stanley tossed a flag: pass interference on the Rams.

Irvin’s impropriety cost the Rams 39 yards and two plays later, after Joe Morris runs of one and three yards, the Giants had a touchdown.

Television replays were inconclusive.

The Rams were in a deep zone as Johnson ran his pattern straight up the field. He had beaten Irvin, but the ball was under thrown. The fun began shortly thereafter.

“He clearly bumped the receiver before the ball got there,” said Stanley. “It was clearly pass interference by the defense. The receiver was definitely looking at the ball. The defender wasn’t.”

Irvin argued for a moment following the call and then retreated to the Ram huddle. He spent much of his postgame time telling all, “I’m not going to worry about it.”

That, of course, doesn’t mean he agrees with the call.

“It was a big play for them,” Irvin said. “It probably was the deciding play of the game.

“They said I pushed the receiver,” he said. “I doubt if I pushed him. He was trying to come back to the ball, too. It’s a judgment call.”

Said Johnson of the play: “I was slowing down and he (Irvin) ran up my back. If they wouldn’t have thrown it, I probably would have had a heart attack, been thrown out of the game.”

Johnson and Irvin shook hands following the game. They both attended Kansas University. Johnson is three years younger.

“We talked,” said Johnson. “He (Irvin) said it was a close call, but if he had to call it, he would have called pass interference.”

Irvin later was unavailable to confirm the conversation.

The same series provided a second controversy. On the three-yard touchdown run by Morris, the officials hesitated in their decision. The Rams considered Morris duly stopped. The Giant offense, unsure of the outcome, couldn’t decide whether to remain on the field or celebrate. Line judge Howard Roe ended the suspense by signaling a touchdown.

“He looked short to me,” said defensive end Reggie Doss, a member of the Ram goal-line defense. “It was a lead play and they were trying to blow us off the ball. One official called him down, about eight inches short.”

Why did the call take so long?

“I guess it was because they were confused themselves,” said Doss. “I think they were uncertain about a lot of the calls and that’s why they had so many meetings with themselves. That’s usually what happens. They’ve got to meet and make a decision. They decided and it seems like all of them went to the Giants instead of us.”

Despite the alleged injustices, the Rams remained only eight points behind with about 10 minutes remaining. They would need two scores.

The Giants kicked off and Ron Brown returned the ball 89 yards to the New York 11. Two Eric Dickerson runs accounted for three yards. On third and seven from the Giant eight, quarterback Jeff Kemp dropped back and waited for receiver Bobby Duckworth to find an opening in the corner of the end zone. Free safety Kenny Hill was nearby.

Duckworth caught the ball, touched one foot on the turf before Hill drove him out of bounds. Back judge Tom Kelleher ran to the scene, paused for a moment and ruled no touchdown.

Robinson, looking as if someone had accused him of wearing dresses, sprinted to the end zone and addressed Kelleher. It was a short conversation.

“He said there was no way he (Duckworth) would have come down in bounds,” Robinson said.

Duckworth, who hurt his shoulder on the play, had no comment. Kelleher and Hill were less hesitant to speak.

“Even without the defense,” said Kelleher, “my judgment says he couldn’t have stopped and got the second foot in-bounds.”

Hill was equally agreeable.

“Of course he was out,” said Hill. “No question about it, it was a great call.”

Hill was smiling.

“I was trying to knock the ball loose and not necessarily trying to get him out of bounds,” he said. “I would have really been upset had the call gone against me.”

The Rams were not smiling. They feigned indifference at times, but occasionally decided they had seen enough of Markbreit’s entourage.