Scott Van Pelt after NFL opener: ‘Ref show in this game was a bit excessive’

Was the officiating in Thursday night’s NFL season opener between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs an issue? Scott Van Pelt seemed to think so.

Following the game, Van Pelt was interviewing longtime NFL lineman Damien Woody, asking about the number of formational penalties called against the Ravens. Woody explained the differences in how the game is officiated now compared to when he played. Van Pelt then made a natural follow-up point.

“I’m sure Baltimore’s gonna say, didn’t they do it also?” Van Pelt said.

“Oh yeah,” Woody responded.

“Well, it didn’t get flagged nearly as much on Kansas City, did it?” Van Pelt asked.

“Listen, it might be a little bit of home cooking there,” Woody replied.

“Everybody’s excited that the NFL is back,” Van Pelt said. “And it’s an incredible game with two great teams. I do think it’s reasonable to say that at some point, the ref show in this game was a bit excessive. Do you agree?”

Woody didn’t argue Van Pelt’s point but put it another way.

“Yeah. I think they were trying to send a message,” he said.

Van Pelt conceded that it “feels reasonable.”

“You just want to let everybody know that, ‘Hey look, we’re calling this.’ I mean, you know everyone’s watching this tonight. So dudes that play from left tackle to right tackle across the NFL are like, ‘Yo. Make sure that we’re lined up correctly.’ Right?”

“Moving forward I’m like, ‘I don’t want to be that guy,'” Woody replied. “‘I don’t want to be that guy.’ Especially tomorrow, with the prime time game down in Brazil, you don’t want to be the guy that’s getting called out.

[Photo Credit: ESPN]