NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
Marshall Faulk, a Super Bowl champion running back who starred for the St. Louis Rams during his NFL career, had a blunt warning for officials ahead of his former team’s playoff matchup against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Faulk told TMZ Sports in an interview published Sunday that he’s rooting for Los Angeles to win, but that he loves the competitiveness of playoff football in general.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
Tennessee Titans defensive end Jevon Kearse (90) chases St. Louis Rams back Marshall Faulk (28) during action at Adelpha Coliseum in Nashville on October 31, 1999. (Freeman Ramsey/The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
However, he said the referees should let the players play.
“This is what I hope: I hope the referees stay out of the game,” Faulk said. “We don’t need to see referees on TV as much. They’ve been too visible in these games. They’re throwing too many flags.
“I know they want to be seen. But they just need to stay out of the games and allow football to be played on the field.”
Faulk’s comments hit the Internet a day after controversy erupted in the Denver Broncos’ Divisional Round overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills.
A key interception that favored the Broncos in overtime caused consternation.
At first, it looked like a simultaneous possession, which would have led to the Bills keeping the ball. But when Bills receiver Brandin Cooks fell to the ground with the pigskin, the ball rolled into a position where Broncos defensive back Ja’Quan McMillian was able to snatch it for an interception while Cooks was lying on his back.
Colorado Buffaloes running backs coach Marshall Faulk before the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Folsom Field on August 29, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Image Images)
BILLS HEAD COACH SEAN MCDERMOTT REPRODUCES OFFICIALS FOR CONTROVERSIAL INTERCEPTION CALL: ‘NOT EVEN CLOSE’
Instant replay review showed Cooks was on the ground with possession of the ball, which would normally end the play and give the Bills a completion. But there was enough of the ball in McMillian’s arms when Cooks fell to the ground that the referees did not reverse the decision after reviewing it.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott wanted the referees to take a close look at the play, so he called a timeout to do so: teams cannot play in overtime.
“It would make sense to me … that the head referee would walk over and want to go take a look at it, just to make sure that everyone in the stadium up there is on the same page. That’s too big a play, in my opinion, and a play that potentially decided the game as well, to even slow it down,” McDermott said.
“It’s hard for me to understand why it was governed the way it was governed. If it was governed that way, then why didn’t it slow down just to make sure we had this right? That would have made a lot of sense to me, to make sure we had this right. Because that’s a pivotal play in the game. We have the ball at the 20-yard line, maybe kicking a game-winning field goal right there. So I’ll leave it at that.”
McDermott had more words for the Buffalo News from the team plane.
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) looks to pass in the third quarter of an NFC wild card round game at Bank of America Stadium on Jan. 10, 2026. (Bob Donnan/Image Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
The winner of the Bears-Rams game on Sunday night will play the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game.
