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Green
Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers walks off the field
after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Packers 14-12 in an
NFL football game in Seattle. |
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GREEN BAY —
Still seething about a controversial , decisive call that went
against the Green Bay Packers in Seattle, Aaron Rodgers used his
weekly radio show on Tuesday to dismiss the NFL's explanation for
the replacement officials' decision.
The MVP also
questioned the league's priorities in an ongoing labor dispute with
its regular officials.
Speaking on
Milwaukee's ESPN 540 AM, Rodgers said the NFL's willingness to use
replacement officials who aren't up to the task is a sign that the
league cares more about money than it does about tarnishing the
game.
Rodgers
apologized to the fans, saying the NFL apparently isn't willing to
do so itself.
"I just
feel bad for the fans," Rodgers said on the show. "They
pay good money and the game is being tarnished by an NFL who
obviously cares more about saving a little money then having the
integrity of the game diminish a little bit."
Replacement
officials ruled that a last-second scrum in the end zone resulted in
a touchdown to Seahawks receiver Golden Tate — when Rodgers, his
teammates, Packers fans and much of the football-watching public saw
a clear-cut interception by the Packers' M.D. Jennings in Seattle's
14-12 win on Monday night.
Rodgers said
fans deserve better.
"Our
sport is generated, the multi-billion dollar machine is generated,
by people coming to watch us play," Rodgers said. "And the
product that is on the field is not being complemented by an
appropriate set of officials. The games are getting out of
control."
Rodgers spent
part of Tuesday's show reading an NFL-issued statement on the air,
poking holes in the league's official explanation.
Rodgers
dismissed the statement's assertion that "officials"
determined that both Tate and Jennings had possession of the ball.
And the
quarterback also scoffed at the notion that replacement referee
Wayne Elliott determined that there was no indisputable visual
evidence to overturn the call on the field through instant replay.
"I mean,
come on, Wayne, that's embarrassing," Rodgers said. "This
is the NFL here saying they should have called pass interference and
saying that the refs got it right in the end zone.
Unbelievable."
Packers coach
Mike McCarthy continued to take the high road Tuesday evening, but
did acknowledge that he thought the play "clearly" was an
interception. And his colleagues around the NFL apparently thought
the same thing.
"I
received more text messages and e-mail s than I did after the Super
Bowl," McCarthy said. "I can tell the impact this
made."
But McCarthy
said the team needs to move past the incident and focus on Sunday's
game against New Orleans at Lambeau Field.
"We're
not going to get any help," McCarthy said. "I know this is
going to be a story that everybody wants to continue to talk about.
And frankly, I'm not going to act like it's not there. This is a
play that I'm sure we'll see on TV as we move on in our lives.
That's the facts of our business."