While the rules of the game are set in stone not all calls are black and white and with referees being humans rather than robots there is always the possibility that some subjectivity creeps into decisions. Recently we have seen referees relieved of their duty after hot micing that they were calling penalties to "even up" the game and we have all witnessed blown calls that are at times then remedied by calling soft penalties on the other team. Being a receiving tight end the call that is most contentious is that of passer interference. There seems to be no consistency when it comes to the call and often times it seems that minor contact results in a call and at others when they is significant infringement there is no call at all even with play reviews. While Kirkby has been on the end of both sets of decisions he was born in New Zealand where rugby is the dominant sport and regardless of your opinion on calls you are taught always to respect the referee so he just gets on with the game.
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