Where we left off:

Officiating.com: 10 October, 2004, Carolina at Denver, Julius Peppers has the longest return for no touchdown. Originally that was signaled a TD but was overturned on review. Did you receive any flak over that call?

Nemmers: The QB drops back and thows a pass. He's tackeled as he releases the ball. I stay with the QB as he goes to ground, and I can hear something has developed downfield. I see that the QB is ok and as I turn, there is Peppers in front of me. I start chasing him down the field. He fumbles into the EZ. I think that he was down, but I was still 10 yards behind the play. I threw a bean bag and let it go. Afterwards, I reviewed the play on a challenge and we ruled Peppers down by contact.

We don’t want to call a guy down by contact unless we are sure he is down, so I let the play continue to develop. After the play, we came back to replay and corrected it. Whereas, if I called Peppers down by contact, the play is over, right or wrong. The following action is meaningless because I called the guy down, even if the ball is recovered for a touchdown or touchback. 

Officiating.com: Do you think that instant replay is what drove your thinking in making that decision?

Continued...