The NFL announced today that all pass interference calls will become reviewable. The owners met up for their yearly voting on potential rule changes with the Superdome Screwjob fresh in their minds, so they opted to make all interference calls and no-calls challengeable.
The rules for all challenges still apply, with teams receiving a limited number of red flags and being disallowed from challenging calls within two minutes of the end of the game.
"I personally believe it was the fact that every club wanted to get, and the league wanted to get these plays right," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell explained after the vote. "Replay is to get it right. And ultimately people compromised, I think, on long-held views because they want to get the system right. They want to get the play right."
Owners voted overwhelmingly to pass the rule, reportedly passing the proposition via a 31-1 vote. USA Today reports that Mike Brown of Cincinnati was the lone no vote.
New Orleans head coach Sean Payton admitted that the discussion would not be on the table if it weren't for the Saints' heartbreaking loss on a blown call (and NOLA's subsequent citywide party/protest of the NFL).
“I don’t think we’d have any of these (proposals) on the docket had it not been for one play,” Payton said. “I don’t think we’d be sitting here on a replay discussion.”
