Sometimes a mention will go over someone's head. That's what the Vikings-Seahawks game looked like on Sunday's Fox broadcast.
Broadcast partners Mark Sanchez and Adam Amin were close behind on a run by Aaron Jones, but a chain gang was called in to find the ball, resulting in a first down.
That's when former Jets quarterback Sanchez removed CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore's name, setting up an awkwardly hilarious exchange between Sanchez and Amin.
“Not really, but probably by index cards,” Amin said. “That's a first down.”
“Where's Gene Steratore when you need him?” Sanchez said.
“I'll take Pereira and Blandino,” Amin said quickly.
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Sanchez said, realizing his mistake.
“We respect all the networks here, you know that,” Amin said, and Sanchez laughed.
Amin mentioned Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino in the exchange. They are two of the rules analysts Fox employs for NFL broadcasts.
But what Amin didn't seem to understand was Sanchez's shouting reference to Steratore.
In 2017, when Steratore was still an NFL referee, he used an index card to measure the distance between the tip of the ball and the first-down marker during a game between the Cowboys and the then-Oakland Raiders.
The moment is one of the strangest in football legend, and Steratore told a pool reporter at the time that he only used the card to reaffirm what he had seen with his own eyes.
“The ball touched the pole.'' Steratore said, according to ESPN.. “I put the card in there and as soon as it touched, it was nothing but a double check. The decision was based on my vision looking down from above and the ball touching the front of the pole. ”
