Ref Admits He Confused Two Players, Mistakenly Penalized Graham Glasgow
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
Graham Glasgow was flagged on Sunday for a penalty that was committed against him.
One of the referees told him so afterward. His explanation was as simple as it was honest.
"Oh, I just switched you guys up. I meant to call it on 91, but you were blocking him, so I accidentally called it on you," the official told Glasgow, according to the Free Press.
"I was like, 'Oh,'" Glasgow said. "They tell us not to yell at the refs, so I'm like, 'Whatever, man.'"
The play in question (well, not really) occurred in the second quarter of the Lions' 20-17 win over the Bears. Referee Jeff Triplette called Glasgow for illegal use of hands to the face when, in fact, it was Bears defensive lineman Eddie Goldman (No. 91) who had his hands in Glasgow's face.
The penalty wiped out a 14-yard gain by running back Dwayne Washington and forced the Lions into a first-and-20 from their own 30. Not to worry. Matthew Stafford hooked up with Marvin Jones for a 48-yard gain on the same series and the Lions later converted the drive into a field goal.
On Monday, Jim Caldwell confirmed the officiating crew addressed the erroneous call after the game.
"They said they could have gotten it wrong," Caldwell explained, suppressing a grin.
Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated had some fun at Triplette's expense.
If Glasgow was frustrated by the miscall, he didn't show it. Stepping in for the injured Travis Swanson at center, the rookie from Michigan graded out as the Lions' best offensive player according to ProFootballFocus.
"He played tough. And obviously when you don't notice that they're in there, you know that they're doing OK," Caldwell said, referring generally to the task of playing center. "He had a pretty good matchup, tough matchup to deal with in there, so he played I think pretty solid. He didn't have any huge errors or anything of that nature."
