Who can fault Dee Ford for being heartbroken over his massive error?
The Kansas City Chiefs linebacker was flagged for lining up inches offsides Sunday late in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game. His penalty negated teammate Daniel Sorensen’s potential game-winning interception and revived the New England Patriots’ hopes of winning.
Ford was wearing a microphone, and “Inside the NFL’s” cameras were following him as he returned to the Chiefs sideline. His interaction with a Chiefs coach demonstrates the raw emotion the decisive moment contained (watch it here via video Casey Baker shared on Twitter).
“They said I was lined up offsides,” Ford said, as seen on Showtime. “Was I?!?”
The Patriots scored two plays later, and went on to win the game 37-31 in overtime to advance to Super Bowl LIII.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid later criticized the referees for flagging Gordon without warning him or the Chiefs about his narrow infraction in advance.
Perhaps Reid shared Ford’s disbelief over the fact the outcome of a game and course of history can change over such a minute margin of error.
