Failed Referees in Tennessee v. Mississippi Game
Dear Commissioner Sankey:
Kindly accept my apology as a University of Tennessee Alumnus for behavior in our stadium at the end of the 10/16/21 game. I've watched many games in Neyland stadium, going back to the mid 1970s, without ever witnessing anything like it or imagining that I ever would.
I also believe that you owe our team an apology for your referee's failures in that game. One in particular was the strange "forward progress" call that denied our team an earned touchdown in a game decided by five points. The Mississippi QB was standing and clearly subject to being tackled. Our players knocked the ball out, recovered the fumble, and ran the ball for a touchdown. There was no whistle blown at the point of the turnover. Referees ran down the field with our ball carrier. Calling the play back and taking our six points off the board was not consistent with rules of the game in theory or practice. Many fans are calling it the worst call they have ever seen, and that's saying something.
Please do not take what I'm about to say as being derived from a need for insult or depreciation. I'm sure you know already that many people are without confidence in your honesty or the integrity of SEC Referees. Sir, you need to do more than blame our fans for their poor conduct. There are no excuses for what they did, but there are reasons for what they did. Because of the failures of your employees, you and SEC Referees generally are held in the worst possible regard. You truly should offer our team some remedy for their loss and apologize for the wrong decisions of your employees which were witnessed by millions of people. We all want to have confidence in the management of our Conference, but we do not and cannot. You truly need to act now for that purpose, and I'm not talking about dictating punishment to fans. I'm talking about managing your employees.
Sincerely,
Dear Commissioner Sankey:
Kindly accept my apology as a University of Tennessee Alumnus for behavior in our stadium at the end of the 10/16/21 game. I've watched many games in Neyland stadium, going back to the mid 1970s, without ever witnessing anything like it or imagining that I ever would.
I also believe that you owe our team an apology for your referee's failures in that game. One in particular was the strange "forward progress" call that denied our team an earned touchdown in a game decided by five points. The Mississippi QB was standing and clearly subject to being tackled. Our players knocked the ball out, recovered the fumble, and ran the ball for a touchdown. There was no whistle blown at the point of the turnover. Referees ran down the field with our ball carrier. Calling the play back and taking our six points off the board was not consistent with rules of the game in theory or practice. Many fans are calling it the worst call they have ever seen, and that's saying something.
Please do not take what I'm about to say as being derived from a need for insult or depreciation. I'm sure you know already that many people are without confidence in your honesty or the integrity of SEC Referees. Sir, you need to do more than blame our fans for their poor conduct. There are no excuses for what they did, but there are reasons for what they did. Because of the failures of your employees, you and SEC Referees generally are held in the worst possible regard. You truly should offer our team some remedy for their loss and apologize for the wrong decisions of your employees which were witnessed by millions of people. We all want to have confidence in the management of our Conference, but we do not and cannot. You truly need to act now for that purpose, and I'm not talking about dictating punishment to fans. I'm talking about managing your employees.
Sincerely,
