NFL VP of officiating: James White's game-winning TD was reviewed and he was in the end zone

Imagine if James White had been ruled down inches short of the goal line on what was the final play of Super Bowl LI.

When White scored, the Patriots celebrated. Players ran off the sideline, including LeGarrette Blount, who went to tackle White in the end zone. Confetti was blasted into the air. Photographers and fans rushed on the field. Tom Brady seemed to be telling everyone to wait for the review, but that didn’t stop anyone. It would have been a nightmare for the NFL if it had to reset everything and line up for a third-and-goal from inside the 1-yard line.

Luckily for the NFL (and the Patriots), White was in. But because we like controversy, some wondered why it wasn’t reviewed, or if White was really in.

The first part was answered by the league: It was reviewed, and the call was confirmed.

NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino said in a weekly officiating film that officials were told before overtime started that a close touchdown would be reviewed, and it was amid the chaos.

“Immediately the replay official is signaling to the officials on the field to stop the game to review the play,” Blandino said.

“The ruling on the field was confirmed. The play did go under review, and the call was confirmed.”

The second part is tougher to answer definitively, though it certainly appears the confirmation of a touchdown was correct. White was lunging and smartly held the ball out in front of him. His knee was barely off the ground when he appeared to get in. Here are some screen shots of the Fox broadcast’s review:

It appears he broke the plane, but it was close. The problem is, the view of the ball is blocked at the moment White’s knee touched down.

“When the knee is down the ball, although we can’t see it, we know it has broken the plane,” Blandino said.

It doesn’t seem like there should be a controversy, though it brought to mind the Brett Hull “in the crease” goal to end the 1999 Stanley Cup. Hull’s skate was in the crease when he scored an overtime winner, and it would have been a nightmare to wave off that goal and restart the game, though the NHL said Hull’s Dallas Stars maintained possession of the puck after a rebound off the goalie so it was legal. The NHL clearly didn’t want to put the toothpaste back in the tube after Hull’s goal, and the NFL didn’t want to restart a Super Bowl after the Patriots had already celebrated a win. There’s no guarantee the Patriots score on third-and-goal at the 1-yard line even without spending energy celebrating; they were denied in that spot three times by the Seattle Seahawks at the end of a regular-season loss.

The NFL came pretty close to having to tell the Patriots to line up again because White’s touchdown didn’t count. White was in, but only by a couple inches. It saved the league a big headache.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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