The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 17-11 on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the victory did not come without controversy.
With about five minutes remaining in the game and San Francisco up 17-3, running back Trey Sermon took the handoff and seemingly fumbled for the first time in his pro career.
Or so it initially seemed.
The referees officiating the game saw the play differently. They determined that Eagles safety K’Von Wallace had illegally blasted Sermon, ultimately calling him for a helmet-to-helmet hit.
Rather than giving Philly an absolutely vital turnover, the Niners retained possession.
After the game, Wallace took to Instagram to express his displeasure with the call.
“Worst call I’ve ever been apart [sic] of can’t believe… Literally in disbelief,” he wrote, via Yahoo Sports.
On Monday, alternate video footage emerged that proved Wallace was right to be upset.
Was definitely not leading with his head… pic.twitter.com/xLGhkdUPRU
— Nicholas Le (@nicholasle25) September 20, 2021
The clip clearly shows that Wallace was not attempting to hit Sermon in the head, but was rather the victim of an unavoidable situation stemming from the momentum carrying Sermon.
This is not he first example of botched officiating in the world of football this week. Something even more egregious occurred during Saturday’s showing between Memphis and Mississippi State.
That’s one way to do it. https://t.co/QbFS5uYpUn
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 20, 2021
And then two weeks ago, a ref was seemingly captured on camera making up a call during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Dallas Cowboys game when he didn’t realize he was mic’d up.
Bad calls happen. Mistakes occur over the course of games. But when they’re this bad, and this blatantly glaring, it undermines the sanctity of the final result and the credibility of officiating as a whole.
Related: Jake Paul Leaks Private Tommy Fury Video Ahead Of Fight (Video)
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
