Super Bowl Ref Mike Carey Almost Blew Whistle

The most talked about play in the Super Bowl, which I guess is simply known as "The Play", almost didn't even happen according to head official Mike Carey. In an article in the New York Daily News (found via the fanhouse) Carey says:

"radar was definitely up, because I knew a sack, or at least grasp and control, was imminent,"

"It didn't quite happen," Carey said. "But boy it was close."

"I anticipated a sack,"

The article goes on to say...

Carey saw enough to be convinced that Manning's forward momentum never stopped. If it had, he would've had to blow the whistle and declare Manning "in the grasp and control" of the Patriots defense, which would've ended the play and resulted in a drive-crippling sack.

As we've mentioned before, thankfully Carey kept the whistle silent and let the play happen. I haven't heard anyone say that Carey made the wrong call, but I've heard some say that they wouldn't have blamed him or faulted him if he did blow the play dead. I can't imagine the outcry we'd be hearing if Eli launches that ball and Tyree catches it only to find out that Carey had blown the play dead.

By the way - considering the Giants amazing run to a thrilling Super Bowl victory, you have to wonder if college football still thinks their system is better. The NFL just set record setting ratings, and I seriously have to imagine that as popular as college football is, if they could somehow figure out a way to put together a ligitimate playoff system, they could see similar ratings from over time.