On Sunday night, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was hit with a controversial foul during the team’s 95-91 overtime win over the Atlanta Dream that was upheld by a video review. The high-profile decision sparked widespread conversation, and now one longtime NFL referee has weighed in on the matter.
In the aftermath of the call, which occurred late in overtime and allowed the Dream to keep the score close with the game on the line, longtime NFL referee Terry McAulay has weighed in. However, instead of expressing his displeasure at the call itself, McAulay has called out the way the officials went about announcing the call.
Controversial Call
With just over 10 seconds remaining in overtime of Sunday’s game and the Fever leading by a score of 93-88, Clark was called for a foul on Dream star Rhyne Howard while she was shooting a three-point jump shot, giving Atlanta a chance to get it to a one-score game with three free-throw attempts.
The Fever decided to challenge the call, believing that Clark did not make enough contact with Howard to warrant a foul, but the call was ultimately upheld.
“After review, the contact by Caitlin Clark is deemed illegal,” the referee said after the review. “Therefore, it is an unsuccessful challenge. Indiana is charged a timeout.”
‘Incredibly unprofessional’
For two decades, Terry McAulay served as an official for the NFL before transitioning into an analyst role with NBC back in 2018. Over the years, McAulay has offered his expertise for a number of situations, not just related to the NFL. On Monday, he did it again.
While McAulay did not weigh in on whether or not he believed the officials made the correct call, he did have one strong point of criticism of the referees, as he expressed his displeasure that they singled out Clark by name while announcing the call.
“Using a player’s name during a foul or review announcement is incredibly unprofessional. I’ve never heard it done before in any sport I’ve watched or been involved with. It personalizes the ruling which should always be avoided,” he wrote in a post on X.
It’s worth noting that fans quickly informed McAulay that this is done in the NBA, as well, to which he offered equal criticism to the men’s league.
“Wow…that’s terrible. Do they still do this or did the league tell them to stop?” McAulay asked, to which the fan informed him that it’s still done at the NBA level.
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