San Francisco 49ers’ owner Jed York made an eye-opening statement about officiating ahead of the team’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs this week. York’s comments echo Nick Bosa’s complaints about the Chiefs offensive tackles committing a lot of holds against pass rushers.
Bill Vinovich will call this year’s Super Bowl
As previously discussed on GH, Bill Vinovich will be the head referee for this year’s Super Bowl. Vinovich is well known for the 2018 NFC Championship Game that ended with a blown pass interference call that allowed the Los Angeles Rams to advance to the Super Bowl.
49ers fans remember Vinocvich for calling their previous Super Bowl matchup with the Chiefs. York called out one missed call on a play that he feels crushed the 49ers’ chances of holding on to their double-digit fourth quarter lead to win the Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs had one major call go their way
With the Chiefs trailing the 49ers 20-10 with seven minutes and change to go in the game, quarterback Patrick Mahomes hit Tyreek Hill for a 44-yard gain to move the chains on a crucial third-and-15 play. If the Chiefs hadn’t converted the first down, the 49ers would have likely been able to run out the clock.
The San Francisco 49ers’ CEO calls out Vinovich
Per video posted by KNBR, York talked to reporters about the helplessness he felt in the booth watching that play. York thought the Chiefs should have been called for holding on the play:
“I remember Nick Bosa getting held on third-and-long and not getting called,” York said. “But it’s football. I should say this: I haven’t talked to anybody with Detroit, but I feel for them when you’re in a situation where you’re up, and you think you can win a game and make it memorable, and things go the wrong way.”
“I’ve been on good sides of that and I’ve been on bad sides of that. When you’re up by 10 points against a team in a Super Bowl, thoughts are going through your head like, We’re going to have a parade, somebody’s going to Disneyland, this is going to be awesome, and then you don’t.”
Those are strong comments for the 49ers owner to make a week before the Super Bowl, especially with Vinovich’s crew being tasked with calling the game next weekend.
Bosa and York have essentially called out Vinovich’s crew to call holding penalties against the Chiefs. How will Vinovich respond to being called out by an NFL owner?
More must-reads: