Minnesota Vikings

Vikings' Robison after costly missed call: 'I'm sick and tired of the ref-ing' in NFL

Published Dec. 9, 2016 12:55 p.m. ET

Brett Smiley

A last-minute comeback bid by the Minnesota Vikings against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night ended with quarterback Sam Bradford getting drilled in the helmet by the outstretched hand of Cowboys lineman Cedric Thornton. Thornton also contacted Bradford's shoulder (which is perfectly legal) as the QB sailed the ball out of the end zone on a failed two-point conversion that left the Vikings down 17-15 with just 25 seconds left in the game.

It was a clear roughing the passer penalty, and the Vikings should have had another shot to convert. Bradford immediately pleaded his case to official Tony Corrente, who Bradford said at the postgame press conference told him that he "did not get hit in the face mask." Well, the replay doesn't agree, and Corrente was wrong. While Bradford took the more subdued, less controversial road, Vikings defensive lineman Brian Robison felt compelled to speak out about the crucial miss.

"I'm sick and tired of the ref-ing in this league," Robison said. "I'm sick and tired of it. You've got holding calls all over the place that people don't want to call. Bradford gets hit in the face at the end of the game and you don't call it. I'm not laying this loss on the refs. At some point, it's got to get better ... At the end of the game Bradford gets hit in the face and it doesn't get called.

"This has been building up over the last few weeks," Robison continued. "I know I'm probably going to get fined, but at some point, somebody has to stand up and say something."

Minnesota failed to cover the ensuing onside kick and Dallas kneeled it out as the Vikes fell to 6-6 as their playoffs hopes dimmed a bit after a 5-0 start to the season.

In the early morning hours, Robison took to Twitter to clarify his earlier remarks.

Senior Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino often comments on controversial calls on his Twitter account but as of this writing, he has not addressed the play. The play also happened to coincide with NFL executive Troy Vincent's announcement that the league is planning to hire as many as 17 full-time officials for the start of next season, which many observers have called for to create a more experienced, dedicated stable of zebras.