After Further Review: Fail Mary Full Of Disgrace

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Lancy Easley book "Making the Call"
Former NFL replacement referee Lance Easley’s book hits the stands on August 1st

Just when we had moved on to the 2013 NFL season and were inching further away from the disaster that was dubbed “Fail Mary” last season, shock waves hit Twitter this past weekend.  OK, maybe shock waves is a bit of an exaggeration-unless you’re a Green Bay Packers fan.

It was announced that NFL replacement referee Lance Easley, who infamously awarded a game-winning touchdown to Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate at the end of last year’s Monday Night Football contest against the Packers, has written a book entitled “Making the Call” and it goes on sale starting August 1st.

While Easley’s blown call was what ultimately led to the end of the NFL’s lockout of the regular refs, it obviously came at a cost to both the Packers and the NFL.  Who knows what would have become of Green Bay’s 2012 season had the right call been made and had the Packers left Seattle with the win.

As we know, Easley had no previous experience as a professional referee prior to that game.  He had done some high school and lower division college games and no one knew who he was.  That all changed in the blink of an eye and apparently Easley intends to ride the wave of that fame (infamy, really) all the way to the bank.  Ironically, his day job is as an Executive with Bank of America.  I’m sure many are hoping that he won’t have the luxury of quitting that job and living off of the royalties from the sale of his book.

The book has caused some blood-boiling, judging by the reaction on Twitter from fans and media alike.  While there is uproar among Packers fans and around the NFL, it seems to be another story in Seattle.  A while back, there were rumors that Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman had invited Easley to be a guest at his celebrity softball game, which took place this past Sunday.  Those rumors were proven true when images of Easley posing with Seahawks players surfaced after the event.  Here is one in particular that ESPN tweeted:

That should have come with a warning for those who are dealing with blood pressure issues.  My first thought upon seeing Easley posing with his hands up as if he is signaling “touchdown” and Tate smiling next to him, is that I hope karma is alive and well.

What is done is done and last season is over.  Neither the Packers nor the Seahawks made it to a championship game, as both lost during the playoffs.  This is America and we are free to pursue any legal means of income that are available.  I’m clearly judging this book before I break its cover but since I don’t plan to read the book, I am going to claim that one bad judgment deserves another.

I realize that the book could actually end up being an ode to Packers fans and a big apology.  Or about how classy the Packers organization and head coach Mike McCarthy were in reaching out to him in support after that game and the backlash he was experiencing.  It could also be about how to overcome a big mistake and move on.  What lingers in my mind is that Easley will profit from something that was so costly to others.

I guess that’s part of the American way, to turn a negative into a positive.  But I note that the description of Easley’s book states “What if your life hinged on a decision you had to make in a split second?”  While the blown call may have been the biggest decision in Easley’s life to that point, it may now be surpassed by and hinge on his attempt to sensationalize and gain from one of the biggest embarrassments in NFL history.  I can’t help but question his intentions when I look at the image above.

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.  After seeing this latest example of Easley’s bad judgment, it’s safe to say that he likely has a problem making the right decisions in his everyday life.  Maybe I should pull all of my accounts from Bank of America before I find that Easley has ruled that my money is actually his money.

For those interested, Easley’s book is co-authored by Brock Thoene and is available for pre-order at Amazon.com at the reduced rate of $10.49.  It is published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

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Jason Perone is an independent sports blogger writing about the Packers on AllGreenBayPackers.com

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8 thoughts on “After Further Review: Fail Mary Full Of Disgrace

  1. This is just another example of what a classless organization Seattle has become. Isn’t it enough that you were given the game on the worst call in the history of the game? No, Seattle players continue to rip off the bandage. Play with it, have fun with it. This is just another example of a Pete Carroll led team, and the lack of class the organization has under Carroll. He left USC in shambles, would you expect anything more? You could trust and believe a Mike McCarthy led team would have shut up the moment the game ended if the Packers ever stole a game and won in that fashion.

  2. I still don’t know if Easley, to this day, knows what the rule of simultaneous possession is. It happens very rarely, when both the receiver and defensive player possess the ball with two hands each at the exact same time. Now you’re never going to be able to say two players caught the ball at the exact same time, but it was clear MD touched it first and with both hands. Tate’s one hand grasp comes off the ball completely as they go down, while Jennings maintains two hands on the ball through the whole act. I’m still not sure what Easley called but if it was a simultaneous catch, he blew it(plus that call can be reviewed if it occurred in the end zone, contrary to what was said).

    Why doesn’t Easley just admit he blew the call and move on. Even Seattle fans know they got a gift.

    1. Some (Seahawks fans) don’t and with Carol and the team perpetuating the idea that it was the right call, some will continue to deny what everyone else sees as a clear missed call, and I’m sure Easley probably gains confidence in their denial of that and stands by his call, no matter how far away from reality it may be.

  3. I was spitting mad the night of the Fail Mary call (didn’t sleep at all well) and I can still get worked up when people are so high and mighty that it was the right call, but the facts are that while seeding was disturbed somewhat, the Packers didn’t make much of the opportunities they had anyway in the post season. Neither the Seahawks or the Packers won it all, and I don’t think The Call disturbed the likelihood either would have or not very much. We can never know, but in the end, where it really counts, the results are what they were always likely to be. 2012 was a down year (relatively speaking) and the horrible call simply made a non-championship 12-4 team into a non-championship 11-5 team. None of this alters the fact that the replacement ref was a dope and I like the whole sport a little less as the integrity of the sport is consistently damaged by everyone trying to take a big slice of the outrageous prices and tax subsidies that pour more and more into the coffers that put that doofus out on a professional football field in the first place.

  4. I would love it if we saw them in the playoffs and ruin their hopes and dreams, making them realize they can’t even think about the words “GREEN BAY PACKERS”.

  5. Talk about highway robberies. First there was the prior play’s bogus roughing passer call (good sack) on GB that would of ended the game b4 the fail mary which effectivley mean’t Seattle got beat twice in the same game, (never mind tate pushing off defenders on the fail mary but not getting called 4 it). What’s really unforgivable is the replay official who had the advantage of slow mo and all the angle shots but still not overturning the bonehead call and finally the NFL itself allowing the bogus result on review. We’re talking clear I-N-T. To establish posession one must tuck the ball into the body which Jennings obviously did and Tate clearly never achieved. It was Jennings alone who leaped up and pulled the ball into his chest as he came down with it the whole way, ON TOP OF Tate, his back to Tate. Perrone here does not need to be plugging the book either by explaining how and where to order.

    1. I think the “r” button on your keyboard is stuck, Big. It’s only a plug if you buy it. My bigger intention was to look at the book and get a good laugh.

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