Tyreek Hill weighs in on Cooper DeJean invalid fair catch

Related: PJ Fleck Very Passionate About How Noncontroversial an Invalid Fair Catch Ruling is

Especially Hawkeye fans, whose delusion has reached levels of such insanity that they literally refuse to accept or understand the difference between an invalid and valid fair catch. But one of football’s most electric talents has weighed in on the topic and, surprise, he confirmed the obvious.

Cooper DeJean called “PETER” and waved off the 4th quarter noncontroversial punt last weekend and, by rule, the ball was immediately dead when he touched it.

Once the punt returner says “PETER” the ball is dead . All return specialist know this 🫣 https://t.co/8sZCavRydP

— Ty Hill (@cheetah) October 27, 2023

Time to move on…

You’d think Hill’s words of wisdom on this topic would convince Invalid Punt Return deniers of what most of us already know. Referees in the Iowa vs Minnesota game made the correct call on Saturday, for once.

PJ Fleck’s Gophers, whether the Iowa fanbase can do the same or not, must turn the page on what happened last weekend and focus on a contest this weekend vs the Michigan State Spartans that is of equal importance.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The rule is the rule and the referees made the right call. It doesn’t matter if you saw it, I saw it or Kirk Ferentz saw it. Nor does it matter whether or not the Iowa head coach new the rule or understood the explanation afterwards. If any other penalty would have been called — ie: a hold, or block in the back — the result would have been the same.

Related: How to watch Gophers football in 2023

PJ Fleck passionate about uncontroversial invalid fair catch

So when asked about the “controversial call” on Monday, during his weekly press conference, Fleck made it very clear he did not appreciate the adjective used to describe the invalid fair catch signal called on Cooper DeJean yesterday.

#Gophers coach PJ Fleck today says there’s “nothing controversial” about Cooper DeJean’s invalid fair catch signal.

“Nothing controversial about it. You Poison or Peter any call, you cannot advance that football. It should’ve just been blown dead right there. The play doesn’t… pic.twitter.com/FpKbcvhEuo

— Jeff Wald (@JeffWaldFox9) October 23, 2023

“There’s nothing controversial about it. An offsides is an offsides, a false start is a false start, a hold is a hold. An invalid fair catch signal is an invalid fair catch signal. Now the way the rule states, is ‘invalid fair catch’ so everybody thinks it has to be above your shoulder and it has to look like a fair catch but that’s not part of the rule.

The other part of the rule, that was implemented years ago, is the poison rule. When you “poison” or “Peter” any call, you cannot advance that ball. You can point to a ball. That’s fine. But, with one hand, you can’t shue away people at all. You can’t do that. We got called for that weeks ago, if you remember. We shooed people away from the ball, caught it, wanted to return it, but it was blown dead.

The only thing that should have happened, and I’m not a referee, nor am I blaming anyone, but it should have been blown dead right there. Don’t even let that play happen because it doesn’t exist. Because it is a “poison” or “Peter” call and it’s a dead ball. No controversy about it.”

Related: Minnesota Gophers Football 2023 Schedule

Fleck touched on all things Iowa for most of the press conference but clearly was sick of going over the very non-controversial invalid fair catch ruling. He lauded the players hard work and effort, in the win, and talked about how them grabbing the Floyd of Rosedale and the smiles they had on their faces while doing, are what makes his job so great.

I can’t disagree with him. Those are the moments that make fandom worth it too, even if those moments seem few and far between sometimes.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan