“He lost control”: The NFL officially reveals why Hunter Henry’s controversial TD was overturned
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Here's why Hunter Henry's TD was overturned against the Vikings.
The recent game of the Minnesota Vikings against the New England Patriots was a rather controversial one. The Pats lost 33-26 against the Vikings, but there was one play in particular that could have impacted the game and changed its trajectory. It was a touchdown from Hunter Henry.
The play appeared to be fine, however; the officials ended up overturning it and it was not counted. This was a setback for New England. While there was a lot of flak that the officials received for overturning this play, the league has finally come out with an explanation for why the decision was taken.
Walt Anderson, the VP of officiating, gave an interview to Mike Reiss of ESPN following the game where he broke down the reason for the decision taken by officials. When asked about what it was that the officials saw to determine if Henry maintained control of the ball in the play, here is what the VP had to say.
“He was going to the ground, the ball ended up touching the ground and then he lost control of the ball in his hands.” Henry was not granted possession before the ball hit the ground and the reason for this is, “As he’s going to the ground, he has to maintain control of the ball upon contacting the ground.”
Hunter Henry’s overturned touchdown cost the Patriots a shot to win the game against the Vikings:
“The term that’s commonly used is ‘surviving the ground’ a lot of people refer that. As he’s going to the ground, he has the elements of two feet and control, but because he’s going to the ground, he has to maintain control of the ball when he does go to the ground.”
From the play, we can see that the wideout has both his hands placed on the ball, however, this did not play that big a role in deciding upon the validity of the play because, at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is if he had control over it. “If he had maintained control of the ball with two hands, even if the ball were to touch the ground, if you don’t lost control of the ball after it touches the ground, that would still be a catch.”
This was the explanation given by the official over his decision. While the touchdown was initially recognized by officials, after a review it was struck down. Henry was furious over the decision and told reporters following the game that “I believe I caught it.”
Head Coach Bill Belichick did not want to talk about this play. He even snapped when asked about it. “Why don’t you guys go to the officials with your pool reporter and ask them about the play? Let them explain it to you. Right? Isn’t that what you do? Thank you.” Now we know for certain why the play was overturned.
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Sumedh Joshi
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