 
|
|||||||||
              
|
No one is to blame in fiasco, Tagliabue decides Tuesday, December 01, 1998 By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Even NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue could not make heads or tails of the Thanksgiving Flip Flap.
Instead of deciding whether Steelers Jerome Bettis and Carnell Lake were right, or whether referee Phil Luckett heard something altogether different during the overtime coin toss, Tagliabue praised the integrity of all three and came to no conclusion.
In essence, he believed Bettis, who said he called "tails" on the overtime flip. He believed Carnell Lake, who said he heard Bettis call tails. And he believed referee Phil Luckett, who said Bettis called "heads-tails."
No discipline was meted out by the commissioner, who did alter the procedures for the coin toss to avert a similar fiasco.
"The confusion during the Lions-Steelers coin toss was unfortunate," Tagliabue said in a release issued last evening. "I have read the report of referee Phil Luckett and also have seen the comments of Steelers players Jerome Bettis and Carnell Lake. All three individuals have excellent reputations and are known to be men of integrity, but their conflicting accounts do not resolve the matter."
Audio from television backed up Bettis' claim that he assertively called "tails" as Luckett flipped the coin.
Earlier in the day, Steelers President Dan Rooney said Luckett did not deserve to be disciplined for what happened.
"You can grade him down, if that's discipline, but I wouldn't fine him or throw him out because it's a mistake," Rooney said. "That's one of the things I'm saying that they ought to be willing to admit to themselves . . . that there are mistakes made."
But Tagliabue's statement called it "confusion," not a mistake, despite the audio and videotape backing up Bettis.
The commissioner said that coin tosses from now on, both before the game and for overtime, would require the captain of the visiting team to announce his choice before the flip. Also, three officials will be present for the ceremony instead of one.
"Our new procedures should make certain that the Thanksgiving Day incident is not repeated," Tagliabue's statement said.
|
||||||||
