On Monday night, one Indoor Football League coach thought his team got the short end of the stick.
Arizona Rattlers head coach Kevin Guy did not hold back after a controversial call ended the defending champion’s season in a 49-48 loss. After the San Diego Strike Force got stopped short of the goal line with just 13 seconds left, the team scrambled to line up and got the ball just in time to score a game-winning touchdown on a Nate Davis 3-yard pass to Arthur Jackson III.
But Guy argued that the officials messed up, and that San Diego should’ve actually been called for a false start and a 10-second runoff, which should’ve ended the game before the touchdown.
The bench boss tore into the officials and his own operations staff to boot.
“Our operations was bulls–t.” Guy said in a long rant “I mean, clock guy, the replay guy, everybody, they’re fired. They won’t work with me again. I tell you that right now. I got to have that information so we can make a decision. The flag was thrown for a false start, and then they went and reviewed it and picked it up. I mean, the whole thing was a cluster f–k.
“We scored a touchdown right before halftime. They call it back, saying hands to the face. Well, you know what? They had their hands all over us all night long, all night long,” Guy added. “I bitched about it all year long, about these DBs wrapping our receivers up, pulling them. They can’t touch you after five yards. This is not college football. This is professional football. They cannot touch you after five yards. They got their hands on it. We got college referees calling pro games. That’s the problem right now.
After all of these issues, this game Guy does not want to see these refs in his stadium ever again.
“They don’t know the damn difference. It was a dog and pony show. I can tell you, those guys, they won’t be welcome back here reffing here again. I can tell you that.” Guy said. “We’ll fly five guys in from the east coast every day. I don’t care. Them reffing in our building. I am so tired of that crew, those same guys involved in it every freaking year. Then they tell me every year that Arizona crew is one of the best. That’s a bunch of crap. That is a bunch of crap. I’m tired of dealing with it.”
Guy told The Arizona Republic that he filed a formal protest with the league.
The defending champs will have to sit at home and watch the playoffs as their season is over.