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Cleveland Browns: Explaining everything about ‘Bottlegate’

By Joel W. Cade

Cleveland Browns quarterback Tim Couch (L) listens as Browns head coach Butch Davis (C) argues with officials after a first-down catch by the Browns was reversed and the ball given to the Jacksonville Jaguars with 48 seconds left in the game. The call prompted fans to flood the field with beer bottles and debris until officials called the game, but later brought both teams back to play the remaining 48 seconds on 16 December, 2001, at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, OH. Jacksonville defeated Cleveland 15-10. AFP PHOTO/David MAXWELLAFP (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL / AFP) (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images)
Cleveland Browns quarterback Tim Couch (L) listens as Browns head coach Butch Davis (C) argues with officials after a first-down catch by the Browns was reversed and the ball given to the Jacksonville Jaguars with 48 seconds left in the game. The call prompted fans to flood the field with beer bottles and debris until officials called the game, but later brought both teams back to play the remaining 48 seconds on 16 December, 2001, at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, OH. Jacksonville defeated Cleveland 15-10. AFP PHOTO/David MAXWELLAFP (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL / AFP) (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Jan 31, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Mike Pereira is interviewed during the Fox Sports press conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center prior to Super Bowl LI. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 31, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Mike Pereira is interviewed during the Fox Sports press conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center prior to Super Bowl LI. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Game over?

The players and officials left the field to a barrage of plastic beer bottles. Some fans even threw trash cans on the field.

Clearly, it was not safe and McAulay had decided it was better to call the game than play under these conditions. Except it was not his call to make.

About 20 minutes after calling the game, then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue called the officiating crew telling them they had no authority to call the game. McAulay’s unilateral actions once again created issues.

But those issues were not isolated to Cleveland. Then NFL Chief Operating Officer Roger Goodell decided to ask the head of NFL officiating Mike Pereira about the issue. Pereira was protecting McAulay which frustrated Goodell. What happened next? In Pereira’s words via 12up.com,

"“The conversation escalated, and when he was down in front of my office, with others present, he was so frustrated and, I’m sure, getting so much heat from Cleveland that he gave me a hard shove into my door to try and continue the argument about McAulay in my office. Quite frankly, it startled me, and I think it startled him a little because the discussion ended shortly after that.”"

Browns fans cannot say that Goodell never fought for them. Literally.

Nonetheless, the teams came back onto the field to watch the Jaguars kneel the ball twice to run out the clock. McAulay had given the Jaguars a victory.

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