Roger Goodell and his minions at Voldemort are getting predictable. If you recall throughout the whole Bountygate fiasco, whenever the Saints would go in for an appeal or win an aspect of the public opinion some “damning” evidence would conveniently fall on the desk of an employee at ESPN. Think the secret tape of Gregg Williams calling for the Saints to kidnap Michael Crabtree’s firstborn or whatever the day after Vilma appealed for the first time or Goodell releasing that affidavit from Williams after the first face-to-face meeting about Bountygate.
Now, Goodell is being a sore loser again, as now there’s “damning evidence” that makes the Seahawks look bad just a day after Richard Sherman made the league look silly again by winning his suspension appeal. Apparently, a source within the Chicago Bears organization has conveniently leaked evidence from the league stating that the Seahawks benefited from bad calls to win against the Bears. Chicago Tribune, break down your paywall:
The first came on third-and-6 from the Seahawks 47 with 3 minutes, 10 seconds left in the first half. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw a deep sideline pass to wide receiver Golden Tate. Tate subtly shoved Jennings to the ground with his right hand near the Bears 30 and came down with what he turned into a 49-yard reception. The Seahawks scored a touchdown on the next play from the 4.
The disputed no-call against Tillman came in overtime. With the Seahawks facing a critical third-and-10 from the Bears 25, Wilson rolled left to escape the rush and found wide receiver Doug Baldwin for a 12-yard completion. To separate, Baldwin rammed his shoulder into Tillman after he opened his hips. The collision knocked Tillman to the ground. On Fox’s telecast, analyst Tim Ryan remarked, “Baldwin got away with a little bump.”
The league also confirmed, in the context of the NFC playoff race, that the three most crucial offensive pass-interference plays of 2012 didn’t involve rookie Alshon Jeffery against the Packers — calls the league later supported in correspondence with the Bears.
All three involved the 10-5 Seahawks.
Besides the two against the Bears, the well-documented no-call Sept. 24 on Tate pushing Packers cornerback Sam Shields before Tate’s touchdown catch on the final play gave the fifth-seeded Seahawks a victory.
So what you’re saying is, the Seahawks got away with bad pass interference calls? Oh, so they’re just like every other team in the league, you say? Because the NFL doesn’t know how to call pass interference, govnah? Just making sure. Now, we’re supposed to look at the Seahawks and say, “they should have lost TWO games and they definitely don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.” So now we can put an asterisk on their season if they make an improbable Super Bowl run.
I’m no conspiracy theorist but I know a pattern when I see one and this is nothing but hollandaise-infused weak sauce by the NFL to get back at the Seahawks for making the real life Mr. McMahon look like a doof again on his way to an incredibly failed 2012 campaign. This mudraking on the Hawks is just another instance were we have to look at Rog and tell him we don’t believe him and maybe he should get a few more people.