Carl Cheffers Makes a Less-Than-Welcome Return to Officiating a Lions Game

This Sunday, someone all too familiar in Lions v. Packers history will be officiating the game. That man is Carl Cheffers, who infamously called the phantom facemask on last year’s Thursday night football game which led to the 61-yard Hail Mary launch from Rodgers to Rodgers in the “Miracle in Motown”.

Cheffers even had the nerve during training camp to defend his flag.

“I think I made the right call” Cheffers said.

Not only does he still believe that the facemask call was correct, he even said that Devin Taylor committed TWO fouls on the play.

“Horse-collar, facemask, I think it was an illegal tackle” Cheffers later said.

If it weren’t for Pete Morelli and the picked-up flag in the wild card game, Carl Cheffers would be the Jim Joyce of the Lions. The Hail Mary play is almost worse than the picked up flag, because now that clip is used as NFL propaganda. It’s impossible to watch a game without a Thursday Night Football ad popping up with Aaron Rodgers running around Ford Field. Anything can happen on Thursday night. Every Lions fan curls up into a ball and begins twitching when that ad is played. Hell, this moment won “play of the year” at the ESPY’s, somehow beating out Villanova’s buzzer beater 3 to win the national championship.

I don’t get why the NFL has to be so cruel to Lions fans. We get that our team is snake-bitten, just stop kicking us while we’re down. The commentary crew will undoubtedly make 10 references to the play, thus upsetting my viewing experience as the Lions look to make it two in a row at Lambeau. However, if Carl Cheffers can call a better game than the flag fest I had to sit through last week, I’ll honestly take it.

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