{"id":328839,"date":"2025-12-06T16:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T16:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/328839\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T16:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T16:09:09","slug":"they-are-supposed-to-know-the-rules-andre-proulx-admits-cfl-replay-centre-blew-call-in-elks-stampeders-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/328839\/","title":{"rendered":"‘They are supposed to know the rules’: Andre Proulx admits CFL replay centre blew call in Elks-Stampeders finale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Michael Scraper\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Long-time referee Andre Proulx has acknowledged what fans already knew: the CFL replay centre, formerly known as the command centre, doesn\u2019t always get things right.<\/p>\n

The most egregious recent example came during the final week of the regular season in a game between the Edmonton Elks and the Calgary Stampeders. In the second quarter, the Elks\u2019 running back Justin Rankin scored an apparent touchdown, but the play was reviewed and showed he fumbled the ball at the one-yard line. A Stampeders\u2019 defender picked up the ball in the end zone long after whistles blew and the touchdown was signalled, and the command centre elected to give Calgary the ball at their own 30-yard line.<\/p>\n

In a French-language press conference at the 112th Grey Cup<\/a>, Proulx admitted it was the wrong call.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens sometimes that I disagree with the command centre,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had that situation where the ball was fumbled at the one, but the referees signalled a touchdown. The player who fumbled (Rankin) didn\u2019t make a full effort to get it back because he saw the officials\u2019 arms in the air. The only player who jumped on the ball was a Stampeders player. The replay showed that there was a fumble, but by rule, since everybody stopped playing, the touchdown call should have stood. If it had happened in the middle of the field, everybody would have kept playing. It didn\u2019t happen in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

In those situations, the head referee doesn\u2019t have the final say. On this occasion, Proulx saw the play and felt the decision was wrong. He admitted he should have spoken up at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was telling myself, \u2018They are supposed to know the rules like me.\u2019 Looking back, I should have spoken up, but I didn\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cNot too long ago, we couldn\u2019t criticize the command centre, so I told myself in that moment that they had probably seen something I didn\u2019t. However, the reviews on the big screens exist now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proulx emphasized that officiating football is not an easy job. There are multiple steps required before getting to the pro level. He is proud of the job that he and his CFL referee colleagues do in every game of the season, as they compete for the honour of refereeing the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody knows it, but there are 140 plays per game, and we\u2019re evaluated on each of them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re probably our best critics. We don\u2019t hide when we make mistakes; we know it\u2019s on tape. The most important thing is not to make too many mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like every time you answer the phone, someone is listening to see if I say the right thing,\u201d\u00a0Kevin Riopel, the side judge for the Grey Cup, added. \u201cThere is not just one person who assesses us. Coaches watch the tapes as well and give feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston stated that the replay centre\u2019s mandate will be one of the items reviewed during the league\u2019s winter meetings in January<\/a>. Perhaps those in the booth will finally be held to the same level of accountability as those hearing the jeers of fans at field level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Michael Scraper\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. Long-time referee Andre Proulx has acknowledged what fans already knew: the CFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-328839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}