Originally posted by tjd808185:Originally posted by Janitor:Sure you can, if the one unexpected play gets called back because of a "holding" penalty, or "interference".
That's a nice thought if 1 ref controlled the entire game. He's part of a team as well and only can only influence things so much. The back judge can't just toss an interference call for the hell of it. The odds that the one or two plays will align with that one paid off ref isn't as high as you make it out to be. It's possible to rig a game but it's just fans crying. As the case with all conspiracies the more people needed to be involved the higher the odds you'll get caught.
I think anyone can throw a flag, but it's up for the ref to decide if he agrees or disagrees. I can't recall which game it was yesterday, but one guy threw a flag that even the announcers said it would've been damn near impossible to see from where he was standing.
Some of it is sour grapes, but again I go back to the fact that the NFL has a single point of failure in its officiating crew (the referee). If this person is bought or coerced into guaranteeing a certain outcome of the game, I don't see how under the current setup you could stop them.