NFL Doesn't Owe Gamblers Anything

Everyone in the sports media is making a big deal about the blown call at the end of the Chargers/Steelers game. Some people are claiming the NFL should allowed to revisit and reverse inappropriate calls, but I don't agree.

If the NFL were to start reviewing and altering games after the fact where do they draw the line? Can you only review the last play of the game? Or the last two minutes? Or can you look back at any blown call. What if they start looking at every play, and they determine that a player from team A failed to get into the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter? Team A went on to win the game. Do they overturn that call? That wouldn't be fair, because Team A may have only played the rest of the game the way they did because they thought they had a lead.

Peter Schrager recently wrote an article titled "NFL needs to come to terms with gambling." I couldn't disagree more. The NFL has no obligations to gambling. If you're willing to put money on a football game you have to be willing to lose that money, whether the officials call a perfect game or not. The NFL - as well as most states - do not condone gambling.

If you want to stake your money on a game - legally or illegally - you do it at your own risk. If the officials make a mistake or two along the way - whether it comes at the beginning of the game, or the end - the NFL is in no way responsible. Your money. Your bet. Your problem. The NFL should keep pretending to be blissfully unaware of the money changing hands every Sunday, Monday and sometimes Thursday.