NFL Notes: Antonio Brown, Replay, Pass Interference

September 29, 2019

An official for a team interested in WR Antonio Brown tells Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman that the NFL will “use what he’s doing on Twitter as further proof he’s out of control and needs to be suspended.”
In addition to calling out Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and former player and analyst Shannon Sharpe, Brown got into Twitter arguments with Browns QB Baker Mayfield and Rams S Eric Weddle.
According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, Brown likely has a good case in his grievance against the Patriots for his signing bonus, as his actions wouldn’t cause his contract to be forfeited under the terms of the CBA.
While the Patriots will argue Brown violated his contract by not disclosing his pending civil suit for rape and sexual misconduct, the team let him practice and play even after the suit was filed.
Volin mentions the Chiefs, Cowboys, Seahawks, Saints and Ravens as teams that could take a chance on Brown if he’s cleared by the NFL’s investigation.

According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, the NFL plans to overhaul its replay system starting in the 2020 season.
Currently, the league relies on its broadcast partners to transmit feeds of replays and different camera angles from their own broadcast trucks, however, the league is looking into upgrading its central command in New York City to have access to every camera feed from every game, essentially operating as its own broadcast truck.
La Canfora says NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been spearheading an initiative to upgrade the league’s technology considering the mainstreaming of gambling and the league’s upcoming partnerships with those entities.
The NFL could also recruit former head of officiating Dean Blandino, currently an officiating analyst for FOX, to return and oversee the enhanced command center.

Pro Football Talk reports the application of replay review to pass interference calls has been controversial not just with the fans and the media but by the teams and even within the league offense.
The standard the league office supposedly favors is not to change the ruling if you have to slow down the video to determine whether a pass interference occurred. However, that wasn’t initially what current head of officiating Al Riveron described back in June when explaining the new rule.
Pass interference was made challengeable for one season only in the wake of an obvious blown call that affected the result of the NFC Championship Game between the Saints and Rams.
According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, Riveron and the league are sending a clear message that the review of pass interference should only be instigated in clear and obvious instances to avoid slowing down the game.