Bell: At NFL's command center, reviews must be right
NEW YORK – "Fumble!"
The voice, belonging to replay technician Jay Manahan, pierced through the NFL's command center late Sunday afternoon with the urgency that fit the moment. Ahmad Brooks had just slapped the football out of Drew Brees' hand at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It was overtime.
The game that might save the San Francisco 49ers season hinged on the call, which would either confirm the call on the field of a fumble or reverse it. If the video evidence showed Brees' arm was moving forward with a pass, it would have been ruled incomplete.
Dean Blandino, the NFL's vice president of officiating, and senior officiating director Al Riveron rushed over to the bank of monitors carrying the game. Riveron quickly put on a headset, which allowed instant communication with referee Bill Vinovich and the replay official at the Dome.
"Let's stop it," Riveron said, flatly.
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Then Blandino chimed in, with even more resolve: "Stop the game! Stop the game!"
This was a live snapshot of what happens on an NFL Sunday at Art McNally GameDay Central, where every game is intensely monitored and every instant replay call is determined.
While roots of the NFL's use of replay can be traced to 1986, this is the first season the decisions are being made from a centralized location – as is the case for Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League -- rather than by the referee at the stadium.
So as 70,000-plus fans at the Superdome more than 1,300 miles away waited, along with millions of TV viewers, the supervisors calmly went to work on the fifth floor of NFL headquarters in midtown Manhattan.
They had shots from four angles that could be reviewed. The images were frozen on one of the four monitors at the station, the one that displayed the computer software designed to arrange such options. With a tap of the touchscreen, Riveron selected the shot chosen for further review.
"Nothing else came in, right?" Blandino asked Manahan, a staffer in the officiating department.
After getting a clear look at the play in slow motion – ironically, the 49ers lost a close game at the Superdome last year when a controversial roughing the passer call on Brooks extended the winning drive – Blandino confirmed the fumble.
"It stands," he said.
Then Riveron informed Vinkovich, via the headset.
"We're going to go with 'stands,' Vinny," Riveron said.
The retired McNally, the former NFL officiating director called the "father of instant replay" would be proud of the efficiency at work on several instances on Sunday at the NFL's version of NASA Control.
There's no doubt that a centralized location can work, with the technicians monitoring the games, flagging the plays and setting up the video clips for Blandino or Riveron – and in some case both – making the final ruling.
I saw this happen repeatedly on Sunday, and observed a well-oiled machine.
It's no wonder that the games are shorter this season – averaging 3:06:23 through nine weeks, even with the extra flags from the points of emphasis, compared to 3:08:36 last year – with the supervising officials never more than a few feet away from seeing a replay.
Heading into Week 10, there were 221 reviews initiated by replay officials and coaches challenges, plus 54 scoring plays and 66 turnovers reviewed, in 134 games. Those numbers are comparable to the past two seasons, but reversals are down – 81 through nine weeks, compared to 100 at that point in 2013.
After the call on the Brees fumble, it was striking that Mike Pereira popped up on the main screen at the back of the room and his voice filtered from the Bose speakers in the ceiling. Pereira, another former NFL officiating director, is an analyst for Fox, charged to interpret the key calls.
Asked on-air if the call was correct, Pereira replied, "Absolutely!"
The confirmation from one of their own produced no reaction. There is no emotion expressed at McNally Central, a sterile place where there are 75 monitors – 53 in the primary hub and 22 others on a bank on a side wall. Except for intermittent alerts about situations that prompt movement from Blandino and Riveron ("Touchdown, Seattle") or ("New York confirms"), the darkened room is quiet enough to study for the bar exam.
Blandino, dressed casually in a sweater, corduroy slacks and loafers, typically stood in the center of the room, watching the largest monitor along the back wall. That monitor was split to show four games, then later to three games as the late games on Sunday were played.
The boss also controls the remote, and with a push of a button switched the audio that was heard softly through the speakers. Occasionally, he switched to hear the broadcast feed when a situation popped up that involved a call.
The technicians, meanwhile, were locked into their individual games. The software not only allows them to grab the replays, but to also mark plays that may be reviewed later in the week for discipline or at some point down the road in analyzing injuries.
Typically, the techs work in other departments. Austin Moss, who monitored Broncos-Raiders, works in the player engagement department. Patrick Reynolds, who worked Giants-Seahawks, comes from the management council. Matt Reinhart handled Rams-Cardinals, but throughout the week works in the player personnel department.
Reinhart issued an alert, "Long touchdown in Arizona."
It was Jared Cook's 59-yard romp with a pass from Austin Davis. Blandino quickly shuffled over and put on a headset.
"Are we sure the ball is over the plane?" he said. "What about his left knee?"
With four replays to choose from, Blandino declared, "Just stop it."
In past years, the NFL monitored games from this room – but not with any authority to make the calls on replay – with feeds from the TV networks. But unlike the past when the video came in with a short delay, the video is live from the TV trucks. Typically, the networks will have at least 10 cameras and for national broadcasts, up to 30 cameras, at a game. The NFL can grab and examine any video that passes through the trucks, even that which is not aired by the networks.
On the Cook touchdown – where he crashed into the pylon while falling to the turf – there is not any evidence to cause Blandino to overturn the ruling on the field. It's tough to see where Cook's knee and the football are in relation to the goal line.
"We don't have a look down the line," Blandino allowed, speaking into the headset.
There's been much discussion about the NFL placing stationary cameras on the goal line, to supplement the network angles. On the Cook touchdown, one angle is from behind the end zone, near the post. Another is from an overhead shot from behind. There's still some gray area.
"Stands," Blandino rules.
There's a difference when officials announce that a play "stands" or is "confirmed." When a play "stands," there's no evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.
Blandino would love to have those stationary cameras on the goal lines.
After the Cook score, he said, "That would be a situation where that could have helped."
It's about making the right call – which still happens over and over with the vast resources at hand.
Follow Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.
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