League Statement about the end of the Week 5 HOU vs SEA game
Following the week five matchup between the Houston Roughnecks and the Seattle Dragons, the television broadcast that took place on ABC showed clearly on replay that when Roughnecks QB P.J. Walker took a knee on a fourth-down play around the Houston 20-yard line, there were two seconds left on the game clock.
This would have allowed for Seattle, who was down nine points, a chance to tie up the game in the final seconds and force overtime. Instead, the officiating crew ran off the field because the stadium clock read triple-zeros, and the replay official in the press box denied any wrongdoing in the moment.
Here is the XFL’s official statement regarding the situation:
“Today’s Seattle Dragons-Houston Roughnecks game should not have ended as it did. Replays showed clearly that the knee of Houston quarterback PJ Walker touched the field, rendering him ‘down’ and the fourth-down play officially completed, with approximately two seconds remaining on the clock-effectively turning the ball over to Seattle on downs. With a nine-point differential in the score, Seattle was denied an opportunity to tie the game. The XFL sincerely regrets this error.”
via Official XFL Press Release
In addition, the league added that “Wes Booker, who served as Officiating Supervisor for today’s game, has been reassigned.” A very stern move to be made just hours after the game wrapped up.
This wasn’t an issue that was only spotted by the ABC broadcast. The Twitter world blew up over the blown call by officials and called for the league to make things right.
The XFL made their official statement regarding the mishap extremely public, publishing the same statement in a tweet on Twitter, and posting it to the league’s Instagram page.
