NFL pass interference penalties draw scrutiny from Super Bowl champ
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Super Bowl champion head coach Tony Dungy expressed frustration with Thanksgiving’s inconsistent pass interference penalties during NFL games.
As has been the case throughout the entire 2025 season, there were plenty of questionable calls in each of the three games. He wrote on social media that the discrepancies reveal that NFL officials don’t know what pass interference is.
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Tony Dungy on the set before the game between the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 8, 2022, on NBC Sports. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
“When you watch NFL football all day long, you come to the conclusion that our referees don’t know what pass interference is,” he wrote on X.
Dungy took his approach even further when one X user wrote that their comments were “pains like cheap seats.”
“I had a good day watching football. I just think pass interference is called very inconsistently. And sometimes those are 40-yard penalties. A cheap seat doesn’t do it. It’s just a statement of fact from watching 3 games where (DBs) and WRs made contact on 40-50 passes. Everyone who watches the games says the same thing.”
Former NFL coach Tony Dungy looks on from the sideline during the NFL 2025 game between the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on October 19, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
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NFL officials spark controversy on social media over pass interference calls; these calls also reached the broadcast booth; Tony Romo and Cris Collinsworth were among those criticizing them this year.
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden said last December he would like to see the league adopt college football’s rules regarding pass interference penalties.
“Honestly, I would make it a college rule, because some of these pass interference calls affect the game, there’s just one play,” Gruden said at the time. “Forgive me for what I took” podcast.
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He also suggested that the call was too subjective and that the penalty flag should only be thrown if it was clear and obvious.
Fox News’ Chantz Martin contributed to this report.
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