Detroit Lions' Nevin Lawson: NFL admits wrong call, so punish refs
Nevin Lawson wants the NFL to punish officials for mistakes they make on the field, like one he said the league owned up to after the Detroit Lions' 34-27 loss last weekend to the Green Bay Packers.
"My whole thing is I feel like these refs should be accountable for all the calls that they make," Lawson said Thursday. "Think about it, this is our jobs out here, so win or losses, or the way how we play the game, if we do certain things wrong we get fined, we’re accountable. So these refs have to be accountable in some type of way.
“They should definitely have to get some type of consequences for making wrong calls, especially game-crucial calls that could decide wins or losses. So I definitely feel like there needs to be more strict consequences. I mean, if they make a wrong call, I don’t know what happens, but I’m assuming, they just, what, get a slap on the wrist and, 'Oh, you made a bad call. Go to the next game.' What’s the consequence?"
Told that officials' playoff assignments are determined by how they perform in the regular season, Lawson said, "It needs to be more than that, to be honest."
"I mean, we get fined for doing wrong things on the field," Lawson said. "They should get fined, too, for making wrong, crucial calls."
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Lawson was called for pass interference on the first play of the second quarter last week, when he grabbed rookie wide receiver Trevor Davis' right arm as the two ran stride for stride down the middle of the field.
Davis fell to the ground after he and Lawson got their feet tangled near the goal line, and the Packers took possession at the 2-yard line following a 66-yard penalty.
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers on the next play, giving the Packers a 21-3 lead.
Lawson said a Lions coach told him that the league admitted it erred in calling a penalty on the play.
The NFL does not comment on its communications with clubs about officiating, and Lions coach Jim Caldwell declined comment on his interactions with the league. But a person familiar with the communication said Lawson mischaracterized the league’s position.
"It's definitely frustrating because you get that call wrong and the worst part about it is that affected that drive and we gave up a touchdown, so can’t get that back," Lawson said. "So the only thing we get is an apology, so it’s frustrating. But like I said, we just got to continue to play and move on."
Caldwell reiterated Thursday that he did not believe the play warranted a penalty, and Lawson said the league’s apology “doesn’t mean nothing” to him.
"We all watched film,” Lawson said. “We all knew it wasn’t a pass interference, but like I say, it just sucks. But we can’t worry about that. That’s the past. We focus is on Chicago so that’s what it is."
Going forward, Lawson said he hopes his penalty helps further the discussion about whether pass interference should be a reviewable play.
"For us that would be awesome because nine out of 10 (pass interference penalties), I feel like those calls should be reviewable because I don’t think a lot of those calls should be called," Lawson said. "They never call a receiver’s pushing off and they do that 99% of the time. But they don’t call that. So if they could review some of those things they could see what’s really going on."
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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.