It’s Worth a Second Look

The NFL instant-replay system was used frequently during the 2005 regular season and playoffs, and was recently in the news after the league acknowledged flubbing a call in the Pittsburgh-Indianapolis playoff game.

Steeler strong safety Troy Polamalu made what on the field was ruled an interception, but the referee wrongly ruled it an incomplete pass after studying the replays.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue this week defended the replay system, saying: “It’s perfectly clear that in the overwhelming number of cases it eliminates mistaken calls. It gives the officiating crews the ability to see things that they can’t see with the human eye in real time.”

There are, however, only certain times -- and certain situations -- when plays can be reviewed.

In the last two minutes of each half, and all of overtime, only the officials decide whether a play should be reviewed. Otherwise, each team is allowed two challenges a game. When a team issues a challenge -- signified by the head coach’s throwing a red flag onto the field -- it automatically loses a timeout. Only if the challenge is upheld is the timeout restored.

Also, judgment calls such as holding or pass interference infractions are off-limits to review. However, the spot of the ball, a fumble, a completed pass or an interception are among the calls that can be overturned.

In today’s Super Bowl, Seattle and Pittsburgh will have assistants in the coaching booths whose job it is to watch for plays that should be reviewed and to communicate what they see to their sideline.

Here is the officials’ procedure:

* When the referee comes to the sideline and puts on the headset, it’s his first chance to communicate with the replay assistant in the booth. He will tell the replay assistant exactly what is being challenged and what the official on the field says he saw.

* There are four people in the instant-replay booth, typically located in the press box. They are the replay assistant, video operator, communicator and technician. No one else is allowed in the booth during a game, and it tends to be very quiet when a review is in progress. The replay assistant wears a headset so he alone can communicate with a referee on the sideline during a challenge.

* The replay assistant is the highest-ranking person in the booth and has some on-the-field officiating experience at the pro or college level. The technician, sometimes called the “far-left guy,” sets up the equipment, documents the plays in question and makes sure they appear on the touch screen in front of the replay assistant. The video operator controls the footage, running it at the direction of the replay assistant. The communicator, armed with binoculars, acts as a second set of eyes for the replay assistant, informing him of what’s happening on the field while the review is taking place. He is also responsible for keeping track of the down and distance, and where the ball should be spotted after the review is completed.

* The referee has 90 seconds to review a play and decide whether to uphold or overturn the call on the field. The clock starts ticking the moment he puts his head under the replay hood. The communicator in the booth keeps track of that 1 1/2 minutes.

* Before he puts his head under the hood, the referee knows how many camera angles he’ll be seeing. That tells him roughly how much time he’ll have to look at the “line feed” -- the live shot television viewers see -- before he needs to look at the various replay angles.

* The officials in the booth and on the field see nothing more than what viewers see at home. “The only difference is we record everything,” said Mike Pereira, supervisor of officials. “You get to see it once and we may get to see it five times. There are no special cameras set up. We don’t have access to the in-house stadium cameras. It’s purely driven by what television gives us.”

* Unlike in years past, there has been no crew shuffling this season. That means the replay assistants and video operators worked with the same crews all season. The NFL made the change for consistency’s sake. The league looks at crews as nine-member teams with seven officials on the field and two in the replay booth.