Mike McCarthy calls Wayne Elliott

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One of the NFL replacement officials at the heart of the most controversial moment of the lockout said that Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy has reached out to him.

Wayne Elliott awarded Golden Tate and the Seattle Seahawks a game-winning touchdown Sept. 24 on a Hail Mary pass that appeared to have been intercepted by Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings.

The resulting firestorm is thought to have spurred the league to reach an agreement with the regular officials.

Elliott told Showtime's "Inside the NFL" that his phone didn't stop ringing for 72 hours. One of the messages left was from McCarthy.

"He called me at my house last week because he had heard I was having a rough week with all the calls and everything," Elliott said during the segment. "Wanted (me) to know that he thought what I did -- controversial and maybe he didn't agree with it -- (but he thought) I handled it with class."

Asked if he would stick by his call after seeing the replay, Elliott said: "I'd probably call interception. I learned a rule by screwing up the rule."

The league issued a statement after the game saying that Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference.

Elliott said that during training he remembered being told that "you don't really call interference on a Hail Mary. ... You just let it go."

Despite all the controversy, Elliott would not trade the experience of being an NFL referee.

"I had the time of my life," he told "Inside the NFL."

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