We heard about it during week 14, the Sunday night game. It seems like an annual utterance from John Madden that the goal line extends around the world. This rule written deep in the confines of the NFL rulebook, states that it is a touchdown if the ball breaks the plane of the goal line either to the right of the right pylon, or to the left of the left pylon, as long as the player is not out of bounds.
Why don't more players try to take advantage of this rule. So often you see a player straining with all effort to place the ball to the inside of the pylon. We wouldn't want to deprive John and a few privileged refs their moment of drama.
Another instance when referees and announcers get very excited is when a catch is not a catch either because there is a drop shortly after the catch or the ground knocks the ball loose. The great example of this was the Troy Polamalu catch against the Colts during a playoff game in '05. The league had to come out after the game and declare that the ref was wrong and that the catch was good.
There is no more striking example of a referee call that needs a greater level of consistency than when hands are being used by the receivers and defenders when a catch is being attempted. The viewers can spot the culprit on an interference call with a high level of accuracy. Why is it the Refs are so often clueless when it comes to one of these plays.
And last but not least there is that ever present befuddlement that takes place when a questionable call is made and all action stops to see if a challenge is going to be made. What mysterious ailment prevents the assistants in the booth from making the right call to challenge or not? It is their responsibility to watch the game and know when a challenge should be made. They have the use of instant replay from different angles, and still can't come up with the right call even with the game on the line.
The fans know if a call is worth challenging 90 percent of the time even without the replay film.