CFL becomes first league to make pass interference reviewable; the NFL will be watching

After a long and controversial debate since the idea was first officially brought up in March, the CFL became the first professional football league to make pass interference reviewable Thursday when the league's board of governors approved the rules committee's recommendation on the matter (and several other notable changes). While the CFL's the only league to do this so far, it may well not be the last. The trend in most sports is towards greater use of replay, as it allows officials to have the same access to slow-motion, multi-angle views of a given play that fans do on their couch. If the implementation of replay on pass interference calls works out reasonably well for the CFL, it's easy to see the NFL doing something similar down the road.

There's plenty to like about the idea of bringing in replay for pass interference calls. First off, whether a given play ended in pass interference or not is one of the toughest calls for officials to make, and not coincidentally, it's one of the calls that's always hotly disputed by players, coaches, commentators and fans. Some of that is obviously just bias and sour grapes, but there are real complaints here, and a large part of it comes from the officials having to make a call based on only a few seconds of full-speed viewing from only a single angle. That can be important; for example, a defensive back's actions might look like a shove from the front or the side, but the rear angle might show that he didn't actually make contact.

Allowing these plays to be challengeable and reviewable will lead to decisions being made based on all the information available, and it will allow officials to have the same information as fans at home. That only seems like a positive. Moreover, it's unlikely this is going to slow down the game noticeably; coaches haven't received extra challenges, so there's still a maximum of three challenges per team per game, and they only get the third after two successful ones. Those challenges won't all be used for pass interference, either; it just provides another type of play that can be challenged.

The NFL's going to be keeping close tabs on this, as pass interference has long been a contested issue south of the border as well. Now, they have a test case to watch (similar to how the CFL often observes the effects of rule changes in the NFL or NCAA). If the Canadian implementation of this goes smoothly, it's not hard to imagine the NFL picking it up shortly thereafter.

However, the opposition to making pass interference reviewable isn't entirely without cause. For one thing, it may not always be clear even from a replay whether a given play is or isn't a foul, a point TSN analyst Duane Forde made on a conference call about the CFL draft Thursday. "Whether you look at it in full speed or in slow-motion on a replay, it's still going to be a judgement call," he said. Others have also questioned if this will lead to even more things being reviewable. Whether this new initiative succeeds (and whether it's adopted by other leagues, including the NFL) may largely depend on how it plays out this season. If coaches are smart and use their challenges on potential pass interference plays that weren't caught initially but look compelling from a different angle, this will likely lead to more correct decisions and less games being decided by poor officiating, and many will be grateful for the addition of replay on these calls. If this leads to just extensive, time-consuming reviews that don't really add anything, though, replay on pass interference calls may not last long.