Roughing the ref

"In an act of protection, referee Ron Winter #14 covers his head after he is caught up in a fight for a fumbled ball between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals in the third quarter at M&T Bank Stadium on November 20, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens won, 31-24."

Sometimes you get a half of second to capture a moment during a game.

During the third quarter of yesterday's Baltimore Ravens Vs. Cincinnati Bengals game, something odd happened.

An interception by the Ravens quickly turned into a fumble, a pile of players, and before I knew it, there was a Ravens playing celebrating that they retained possession.

The worst part of it all was I was totally tricked from the time the ball left the quarterback's hands. I was panning down field, so I had to rapidly pan back the other direction to catch up with the interception.

Once I caught up to the play, I was again searching for the ball as the 70,000-something crowd gasped at a now fumble. By the time I found it, mind you this is seconds in time, I wasn't focused on the ball anymore.

I saw referee Ron Winter flying into my frame and onto the ground. Usually, these pile-ups aren't very visual as one cannot see anything. But this time I was lucky to catch Winter covering for protection as players continually jumped on the pile.

Something I've never seen before and glad Winter was able to walk away from it. Hopefully this goes to show that the officials and referees are putting their bodies at risk, too.

edit: I found YouTube video of the incident.