My Conversation with Lance Easley
A couple friends and I strolled over to the bar at the Beverly Garland on Saturday night for an after-dinner drink. My friend is talking to this girl at the bar and who strolls in but Lance Easley himself.
I know who he is immediately and then ask myself what I should do. I’ve thought of what I’d do if I ever ran into Brett Favre somewhere and I really don’t know the answer, although how I’d react now would certainly be much different than I would have three or four years ago.
So here is this person who we have universally despised since that fateful event in Seattle. The Fail Mary. The girl at the bar says, “This is Lance.” I reply, “I know who he is.”
Someone notes that I am a Green Bay Packers fan and that I own this blog. Naturally, I have to talk to the guy.
I’m not going to recount the entire conversation and, in fact, I had a pretty nice buzz on, so I’m not sure I could recount it in its entirety anyway.
What I can tell you is this. In the years since, Easley has repeatedly said he felt he made the right call on that play. He didn’t exactly say that me, but he did say — I’m paraphrasing slightly, “it was the only thing I could have done.”
I’m sure there are plenty of you out there who still hate the guy, but I really got the impression that the whole ordeal ruined his life to some degree. He mentioned more than once that it ruined his marriage.
That was obviously something that bothers him.
He did ask me how I felt about the play and yes, obviously I’ve always felt it was a crap call, but it occurred to me at that moment that it really didn’t matter. Yes, I said, the Packers could have had better playoff seeding, but that wasn’t a Super Bowl team anyway. That Mike McCarthy has only really had three legitimate Super Bowl-caliber teams since he’s been in Green Bay — 2007, 2010 and 2014.
Better playoff seeding or not, that 2012 team wasn’t winning the Super Bowl. They started M.D. Jennings at safety for Christ sake.
At any rate, you don’t often think about the person as a person in a situation like this. And then one day you come face to face with that person in a bar in Los Angeles.
I genuinely felt Easley was a good guy and I felt bad for him. How do you deal with something like this?
One of the last things he said to me was how kind Packers fans have been to him.
I guess that’s what you’d expect, although I will admit, I did first consider getting into a bar brawl with him. Clearly, I am getting soft in my old age.
Not many details about meeting someone whom you wrote countless articles about how much of a piece of shit this guy is. But….lets assume for a minute this is true…..
Lets not confuse turning into a nice soft cuddly vagina, with getting old and soft.
Bar brawl?…lol yea…i’d hate to have to incur your wrath. But i digress, i bet that old geezer would have been on the business end of a nice firm slap.
Never stop being comedic my friend.
We got a badass over here.
I know right?
When Monty said..”i know who he is”….i thought, fuck, this is goin down!!
:)
I am the one who has written the lion’s share of vitriol and invective, Monty not so much if I recall correctly.
Monty wrote his share, probably more than you did. But if you felt left out and excluded, then i apologize. It wasn’t done with malicious intent to hurt your feelings.
Thank you for understanding.
What a gay article
And by article I mean author
Geez id love to 69 that Erin Pascarelli
Coscarelli?
Yep
I am pretty much over the whole thing. In a way, I feel bad for the guy. Really, the whole situation was the NFLs fault for trying to cheap out the actual experienced referees. These guys were forced into a shitty situation.
That being said, I will never forgive him, particularly for his actions afterwards, trying to profit off the whole thing, ect. Would I ever get into a bar right with the guy? No, that is stupid. I probably just wouldn’t pay any attention to him.
Agree with Kato about how he conducted himself afterward. He never even once acted like he considered the possibility he may have been wrong. (Exactly like the refs who blew the Calvin Johnson call against Chicago. That was and will always be a catch in spite of what they or the NFL says.) You got divorced over a shitty call you made and you were proud of making? Grow a set of fucking balls and man up Nancy. Own that shit instead of trying to manipulate Monty into buying you a drink from your undeserved notoriety. Along with Golden Taint and that idiot Pete Carroll acting like they weren’t gifted a win from a shitty call by that guy masquerading as an NFL official, those 3 can all go fuck themselves for eternity. Brett Favre can be the emcee and show them how it gets done.
“He mentioned more than once that it ruined his marriage.”
She probably realized what an idiot he was. Her thoughts are if he can lie to the whole country on national tv, what is he lying to me about?? lol
Making that call in the moment, fine. Things happen fast and who knows what he seen from that angle. It’s the replay booths job to get it correct after the fact. But when he continues to say it was the right call and continuously hangs out at Seahawk events to rouse up their fans and promote his book, then sir you can thoroughly fuck off. A referee who party’s with a certain fan base over one of the most notorious calls in league history and the NFL is totally fine with it? You don’t see Ed Hochuli partying with Bronco fans over his botched call. Oh that’s right, he’s not an idiot and admitted it was a mistake.
Effin A Cotton, effin A!