Longtime replay skeptic Mike Brown was lone vote against new rule

[Who Dey]

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When the NFL’s owners voted to expand instant replay to include pass interference, the vote was 31-1. Bengals owner Mike Brown was the one.

Brown has long been skeptical of instant replay and said that the delays in the game aren’t worth the benefits. In 2015, before a different replay proposal came to a vote, Brown said he simply doesn’t support expanding replay, for any reason.

“I will likely vote against the expansion of instant replay, whatever its form,” Brown said. “Too many teams who felt injustice reached out with a proposal to correct it in hindsight through instant replay going forward. Spare me. We all have those cases. It’s remarkable to me that we have as many stoppages in the game as we do. I don’t want more of that. I want less of that. Instant replay is one of those. They have gotten more efficient with it. That’s good. Still, it’s a couple minutes plus every time it kicks in. I am willing to accept the calls on the field. Sometimes are better than others. It’s part of the game.”

Brown raises a fair point: At a time when the NFL has said it would like to make sure games keep moving quickly and don’t extend much past three hours, a rule change that can result in more replay reviews may make games longer. But Brown is the lone voice making that case.