The Fail Mary tarnished the NFL brand. I saw it up close. Let's not do this again

Nearly 14 years have passed, but I remember the moment with vivid clarity, as if it … just happened.The actual sequence remains a blur.In fairness, from my sideline perch near the opposite end zone, I didn’t get a very good real-time look at the fraudulent “touchdown” catch that would become known as the Fail Mary. All I knew was the NFL’s absurd officiating lockout had reached an inflection point.What I didn’t know was that things were about to get really, really weird.Advertisement