With 8:47 remaining in the fourth quarter of the New England Patriots' AFC Championship Game victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, the Chiefs were punting to the Patriots with New England holding a three-point lead.
The punt from Dustin Colquitt took a strange bounce and headed toward Patriots returner Julian Edelman, who made an attempt to pick the football up as it was rolling. However, the ball sailed past Edelman, and the Chiefs, thinking Edelman touched it, jumped on it.
The official ruling on the field was that Edelman muffed the punt and that Kansas City would take over with incredible field position.
However, replays showed that Edelman never actually laid a finger on the football, as it somehow bounced over his hands and avoided his right forearm. The call was then overturned, and the Patriots took over.
After the game, Edelman didn't think he was all that close to the ball during that controversial call:
“I didn't think I was that close,” he said, according to Ryan Hannable of WEEI. “Thank God. It took a short hop on me and I don't play baseball. I didn't touch it. It was close, though. I guess.”
It was close, as the football came within millimeters of grazing his thumbs, but it was also clear on the replay that Edelman did not touch the ball.
Edelman ended up with seven receptions for 96 yards on the night, including a pair of huge third-down conversions in overtime that led to the Patriots' game-winning drive.
Now, the wide out is headed back to the Super Bowl after missing out last year due to a torn ACL:
“I didn't get to go last year, so this is pretty awesome,” he said. “It has been a crazy year. We are going to play an unbelievable opponent with LA. We just beat a really good football team. We knew it was going to go down to 60 minutes. A tough team. You have to tip your cap to Kansas City. This place was electric. We have one more game. It is going to start with unbelievable prep against a tea, that we don't know. I look forward to it.”
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