On Sunday, Jimmy Graham was called for pass interference on a would-have-been game-winning Hail Mary reception against the San Francisco 49ers. Though replays clearly showed Graham giving a purposeful shove to the back of Perrish Cox, Graham and his New Orleans Saints brethren immediately complained about the call and Fox announcer John Lynch suggested Cox had flopped to draw the flag.

The cries from the Saints grew louder when the 49ers won in overtime. After the game, Graham still couldn’t believe he’d been flagged and said so to reporters. Before we begin: You cannot, and should not, blame Graham for pleading his case. That’s what a guilty man is supposed to do. But nothing says you can’t point out how wrong he is about it. (Quotes in bold, via NOLA.com)

“It was definitely not a push-off.”

That sentence either needed to remove a “not” (“it was definitely a push-off”) or add one (it was definitely not not a push-off.”)

“I’m running down the field telling myself, ‘Whatever you do, don’t push off.'”

Oh, well then! He didn’t want to push off, so clearly he couldn’t have done so! Look, if desire dictated reality, place kickers would never miss field goals, Rex Ryan would have six Super Bowl rings and I’d be writing this post from my yacht while drinking bellinis alongside my best friends George Clooney and Veronica Mars. No receiver ever wants to push off. No defender ever wants to interfere. These are unfortunate byproducts of the desire to make big plays.

“It’s interesting how guys grab me everywhere on the field and I put literally two fingers on somebody and they make that kind of call.”

A) Jimmy Graham has a questionable interpretation of what constitutes “interesting.”

B) “Two fingers.”

“The general consensus is, you go down there, you can kick somebody in the chest and go up there and get it and you’ll be fine. But apparently not.”

So which is it? Did you not touch the guy or did you give him the shoving equivalent of a kick to the chest?

This was a clear, no doubt pass interference call. Graham extended both hands, shoved and positioned himself for the catch. He cleared space to make the grab. Cox’s stumble looks suspicious if you want to see suspicion, but if you watch all angles of the replay you’ll see he didn’t start stumbling until he was shoved. Anyway, who plays a Hail Mary hoping to get a call? If Graham is right in that the “general consensus” is players don’t expect flags on Hail Marys, then Cox would have no expectation to receive one.

All that being said, utilizing the Graham strategy is a phenomenal strategy for Hail Marys. Receivers in those big scrums should give a little shove every time. Best-case scenario, the refs miss it and you catch a touchdown. Worst-case scenario, you get flagged and are forced to make a disingenuous defense of yourself after the game.

(Thanks to @cjzero for the GIF.)

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