PLAY IT AGAIN : THE NFL'S INSTANT REPLAY ISN'T ALWAYS THE LAST WORD.

Byline: Charean Williams The Orlando Sentinel 

The NFL's return to instant replay leaves one lingering question: Was it the right call?

The $10 million replay project is designed to save face for a league left red-faced by some referees' embarrassing gaffes at the end of games last season. But will it right every wrong?

In fact, not every erroneous call will be reviewed. Only certain plays are subject to review; coaches have limited challenges and television does not always provide irrefutable visual evidence.

``What instant replay has basically become is an incredibly expensive insurance policy,'' said Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the league's competition committee. ``It's like paying $750,000 for a $1 million term-life policy. You don't feel overly good about the investment, but you feel like you need the insurance.''

Replay has had problems all exhibition season.

The new system uses an electronic push-button device worn by every head coach so he can signal the referee when he wants a call reviewed by replay.

St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil clipped the device to the front of his pants. Every time he bent over, he inadvertently signaled the referee. San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci started flailing around in excitement during a game and also sent off a false alarm.

The device was quickly redesigned so the buttons would be harder to activate accidentally.

The new replay system, approved for a one-year trial run, has had other problems this exhibition season:

In the Tennessee-Kansas City game, the computerized system failed. The game was without instant replay for four minutes until the crew switched over to a backup videotape system.

In the San Diego-Miami game, the Dolphins were charged a timeout because a local television technician inadvertently connected the wrong line feed from the truck. Only one shot was provided to referee Mike Carey of a sideline catch by San Diego receiver Ryan Thelwell. The JumboTron clearly showed Thelwell was out of bounds, but Carey never received a definitive replay before the 90-second time limit expired. Mike Pereira, the NFL's supervisor of officials, later informed the Dolphins the play should have been overturned.

Denver coach Mike Shanahan challenged a play during a game against the Packers. However, before the referee arrived to the sideline, Shanahan heard from his assistants in the press box that the ball indeed had hit the ground first. ``I told him it was an inadvertent challenge, so we didn't get charged with a timeout,'' Shanahan admitted. ``I'm not sure they'll fall for that the next time.''

The Jaguars and Eagles tried to challenge plays not subject to review, and the 49ers were denied the opportunity to challenge a fumble after officials ruled a whistle had blown the play dead. They were not charged with a timeout.

For all its bugs, instant replay is something NFL officials say they need.

``I don't think anyone wants a lot of stoppages, but we also don't want anyone not going to the Super Bowl because of an error that could be corrected,'' said Val Pinchbeck, the former head of broadcasting for the NFL who now serves as a consultant. ``The equipment is very good. The question now is, can humans operate it properly?''

The NFL has used exhibitions as an experiment to try out the computerized system designed by Leitch, a Toronto-based technology company. The league has encouraged coaches to use replay despite the risk of being charged a timeout if their challenge doesn't result in a reversed call.

Through 34 exhibition games, there were 30 challenges. Coaches challenged 23 plays, and seven more came in the final 2 minutes of the half or of the game, when a league-appointed replay assistant decides whether to review a play. Of the 30 plays reviewed, three were overturned.

Pereira acknowledges one call was reversed erroneously, and another that should have been overturned was not because of a technical glitch.

``The way it's going, it's obviously not that big of a deal right now,'' New England Patriots coach Pete Carroll said. ``But there will be some plays down the road that it'll help us on. So if it does that, that's really what the design is - to right the really obvious mistake that somehow gets overlooked on the field.''

League officials worry that all the bugs might not be corrected before the regular season begins Sunday. And there is one hiccup the NFL can never cure: Even after further review, not everyone is going to agree on what they saw.

When the NFL used replay from 1986-91, a replay official in the press box could review any play on two VCRs that were connected. Teams complained the long stoppages between plays disrupted the flow of the game.

Leitch's new touch-screen software allows a video assistant to review a play four times - three times in slow motion - in eight seconds. Pereira predicts two reviews every three games, each taking an average of 2-1/2 minutes from the time the challenge is made.

Replays are limited to the angles of the play shown to the home television audience on network feeds, and television cannot guarantee it will provide a definitive shot in timely fashion.

The NFL's television contract stipulates that the networks have at least seven cameras and five tape machines at every regular-season game. ABC, which produces only ``Monday Night Football'' during the regular season, has at least 16 cameras at every game and up to 20 for big games.

Coaches have until the next snap to make a decision. The league uses a 40-second play clock, although Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has given referees the authority to call an official timeout after a controversial touchdown to allow time for replays to be viewed upstairs.

Television executives accept their role, but they are not necessarily comfortable being put on the spot.

In ESPN's final regular-season game last year, Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith scored on a 26-yard run. While watching various replays during the commercial break, Fred Gaudelli, ESPN's senior coordinating producer for game telecasts, found a shot that showed Smith stepping out of bounds at the 4-yard line. If that scenario were to occur this season, and the extra point already had been kicked, the touchdown would stand.

``I'm going to be a little bit more sensitive of any play that goes down the sideline that's a touchdown,'' Gaudelli said. ``But again, there's only 30 seconds or so between the touchdown and the time they kick the extra point. If it's not the first angle, there might not be time to challenge it. That's why I'm telling you it's not foolproof. It's just not.''

But if the system works correctly, the game-deciding blown calls - such as those that victimized the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks last season - will no longer be an issue.

``Of 37,000 plays last season, if I could have five of them back, we probably wouldn't have instant replay,'' Pereira said. ``My stance on this is if we can find a system that corrects even one play that could have cost somebody a game, then I'm all for it.''

HOW REPLAY WORKS

System begins with the replay booth receiving a live feed from the network-television control truck covering the game.

Every play will be examined regardless of a coaches challenge.

System will be initiated by challenges from the head coaches - two per game - in all but the final two minutes of each half, and by the replay official in the booth in the final two minutes and overtime.

The replay booth will consist of a replay assistant, technician, video operator and communicator.

Communicator - The replay booth's eyes on the field. Advises the replay assistant what is happening on the field before the ball is snapped. The communicator is also the timer of the 90 seconds allocated to the referee to make a decision on a replay.

A buzzer system will be used to signal the call for a replay. Before the final two minutes, the head coach will buzz the referee and replay booth that he challenges a play and wants a review. Within the final two minutes, the booth will buzz the referee, calling for a replay. Head coaches will wear a belt pack containing a buzzer. When pressed, the buzzer will simultaneously signal the referee, umpire and replay booth that a replay is being requested.

There will be three replay monitors at field level in open-air stadiums. Two will be positioned at opposite 20-yard lines near the sideline wall. A third will be in a runway, for use in bad weather.

As the referee approaches the monitor, his first replay will await him. His 90 seconds for a decision begins when he puts on the headphones that put him in contact with the replay booth.

RULES OF INSTANT REPLAY

Coaches challenge

Outside the final two minutes of each half, each team will be permitted two challenges per game that will initiate referee reviews. Each challenge will cost a team a timeout. If a challenge is upheld, the timeout will be restored, but the challenge will not. No challenges will be recognized from a team that has exhausted its timeouts.

Final two minutes of each half

After the two-minute warning of each half, and throughout any overtime period, any review will be initiated by the replay assistant in the replay booth in the press box. The assistant may initiate as many review requests as he thinks necessary, no matter how many timeouts the teams may have. No timeout will be charged for a review initiated from the replay booth.

Referee review

All replay reviews will be conducted by the referee on a field-level monitor after consultation with the other covering officials on the play. A decision will be reversed only when the referee has indisputable visual evidence that the call should be changed. The referee cannot initiate a replay in any instance.

Time limit

Reviews will be a maximum of 90 seconds, timed from when the referee puts on the head phones to the replay booth.

Reviewable plays

The instant replay system will cover a variety of plays in three main areas - 1) sideline, goal line, end zone, and end-line plays; 2) passing plays; and 3) other detectable infractions, such as a runner ruled down not by defensive contact, and the number of players on the field.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 2 boxes

PHOTO (1 -- color --) Referee Ron Blum reviews a practice-game play. NFL officials hope all bugs are out of the system by Sunday.

Tom Ganam/Associated Press

(2 -- color --) Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher loses glasses and headset as he runs to argue a call last year.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

(3 -- color --) The controversial reception by Patriots WR Shawn Jeferson (84) in November might have led to the NFL's new stance on instant replay.

Jim David/Associated Press

BOX: (1) How Replay Works (see text)

(2) Rules of Instant Replay (see text)