After a blown call cost the Detroit Lions a win against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night in Week 4, it’s not surprising to hear team owner Martha Ford is upset with the NFL.
Ford hasn’t made a public statement about the matter, and the Lions have been maintaining praiseworthy discipline as an organization about not making a huge fuss publicly about the missed call. Head coach Jim Caldwell went so far as to admonish his team to absolutely not comment on the matter.
But that doesn’t mean the Lions are taking it laying down. In fact, Caldwell revealed during his weekly radio appearance that Ford has been quite vocal about the missed call to the league, but she’s going about it the proper way, following league protocol.
“I think people were kind of expecting our organization to put out a public statement about how egregious that particular no-call was, and all those kinds of things,” Caldwell said, via the team’s official website. “And don’t think Mrs. Ford is not upset. Don’t think that she doesn’t tell them [NFL officials] and give them a piece of her mind, because she is there at the league meetings – this week or yesterday. And without question, that’s done. We have a protocol that we go through.”
For the uninitiated, here is a breakdown of the entire fiasco, with commentary by NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino, who admitted the refs completely blew the call.
NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino comments on the Lions-Seahawks ending. http://t.co/BO90lIlUl8
— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2015
Without a doubt, most people in the organization, from the top down, would love to make a huge public fuss about the call that turned the Lions into the only 0-4 team in the NFL. However, the NFL frowns upon public criticism of the officials, and the fines for such an offense aren’t cheap.
With this in mind, what Detroit is doing in response is commendable, but don’t mistake the silence for acquiescence.