It’s very possible Matt eventually realized it wasn’t so boneheaded. The referee blew the whistle while the ball squirted out and was still “live”. Both a Carolina player and Wyatt saw it and went after it. Wyatt also didn’t do anything egregious other than try to jump on a live ball. That’s how he’s always played and he’s been praised for it. He makes plays all over the field and is known for his hustle. He’s never been known to just want to “pile on”. He really never piled on anyone if you look at it closer. Referee lost sight of the ball and panicked. Literally
The mistake wasn’t Wyatt. The mistake was the Referee thinking a Panther had control of fumble and he didn’t from an assortment of replay angles he had never controlled that ball.
Great hustle downfield and shows his awareness and playing through the whistle. If somebody was on that ball, why did the Panther player suddenly jump on his knees 4-5 feet away from the initial fumble pile? Watch his Stokes changes direction #21 looking for the loose ball
If I was Matt I’d apologize too, it was total mistaken identity and a terrible flag thrown. It’s another referee mistake but understandable because he had a bad angle. He just started blowing his whistle prematurely. Literally stopped a live play by accident. Then doubled down on his own stupidity by throwing a meaningless flag and out of embarrassment didn’t pick it up.
I wonder if the Ref realized later were in camera and the fans have 3 camera angles and freeze and slow motion? See the caption? Even the announcers could see it
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