Some referees just seem to like face time. The legendary Ed Hochuli was very much like that, and Clete Blakeman may have inherited the title. Coming into Thursday night’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowhoys, Blakeman and his crew had called just 110 penalties on the season, third-lowest in the NFL. But in this nationally televised event, Blakeman clearly wanted to make up for lost opportunities. Not only had Blakeman and his crew called 17 penalties through the end of the third quarter, but these more had been waved off after flags were thrown, and Blakeman got his mug on TV yet again.
Several of these calls were highly suspect, as we will see, and overall, social media was down on Blakeman’s repeat performances.
"we're gonna take the rest of the night off and let Clete Blakeman call the game" lol https://t.co/HydbjreBu3 pic.twitter.com/JehvOOCTDJ
— alex (@highlightheaven) December 1, 2023