Each weekend, millions of people tune in to watch college and NFL football. The game of football is played at a fast pace with referees making crucial decisions about penalties, ball spots, turnovers, and scores. There isn’t a human being in the world who can make these split-second decisions without making a mistake now and then. In come the replay systems.

The NFL first debuted a replay system in 1986, but in 1992 is was voted out. In 1999, a new system was started and is still being used today. Last year, the Big Ten football conference experimented with a replay system for the college game. It was so successful that 8 more conferences, as well as Notre Dame, are some type of replay system for 2005. All of the 28 bowl games at the end of the season will also use a replay system.

As a Detroit Lions and University of Michigan Wolverines fan, I’ve seen my share of both replay systems in use. The Big Ten gets most aspects right where the NFL’s system has some major flaws. There is also one area where both system fail.

Initiating the replay

In the NFL, each coach has a red flag. If he’d like a play to be reviewed, he simply throws the flag onto the field. This is called a coach’s challenge. If the coach loses the challenge (the play called on the field stands) his team is charged with a timeout. If he wins, the call on the field is reversed and no timeout is charged. During the last two minutes of the game, all challenges from a replay official in a booth upstairs.

In the Big Ten, the lead official wears a pager. A replay official quickly reviews any questionable calls before the next play is run on the field. If he sees something which warrants a full review, he’ll page the official on the field and play is stopped. If it doesn’t look like a play is going to reviewed, coaches can call a timeout to give the replay official a little more time to do his quick review. If the play ends up being reviewed and a call is reversed, the team can be given their timeout back.

While the NFL’s system does allow a coach to initiate the review, the Big Ten system has a backdoor where a coach can call a timeout. Most plays that end up being reviewed are quite obvious, so the Big Ten’s replay system is clearly better in this area. Although it doesn’t happen often, NFL coaches need to worry about “wasting” their challenges and they need to have a timeout left in order to make a challenge.

The actual review

When a coach makes a challenge in the NFL, the lead official goes to an area on the sidelines where he watches different angles of the play. He communicates with someone in the booth upstairs who is controlling the video displayed on his screen.

Reviews in the Big Ten are requested from the replay booth and also reviewed by the replay booth. The replay official uses a headset to communicate with the lead official down on the field while he watches each angle of the play on video. He is in direct control of the angles he is viewing.

The system used by the Big Ten helps to shorten the length of time used for reviews. It’s easier for an official to make a correct call with a larger screen and with control over the replays he is watching.

Reviewable plays

Penalties are not reviewable in either the NFL or Big Ten replay systems. If they’re going to allow calls to be reviewed, why limit what is reviewable? Allowing more reviews will slow down football games, but isn’t the goal to get the calls right? While typing this up, I saw a great instance where a penalty review could change the outcome of a game. The Detroit Lions intercepted a pass, but the defender was called for holding, which negated the interception. When the broadcast showed the play again, it was clear that there wasn’t actually any holding. This could not be reviewed, so instead of Detroit having the ball in good field position, Tampa Bay kept the ball and ended up scoring a touchdown a couple of plays later.

What next?

The Big Ten’s system is currently better for football, but both systems can learn from each other. I hope the NFL will take a look at how much success the Big Ten has had with their young replay system and make a few changes.