The outcry for instant replay to return to the NFL reached a peak in last season's playoffs when the Green Bay Packers complained that they would not have lost a wild-card game to San Francisco if officials had an opportunity to review a controversial fumble by Jerry Rice on the 49ers' game-winning touchdown drive.

During the off-season, NFL owners decided something had to be done to get rid of the bad taste left from a couple of highly publicized erroneous calls last season.

Enter the NFL's instant "challenge" replay, a more advanced system than the league used from 1986 to '91.

"Our goal is to take advantage of advanced technology to create the most efficient replay system possible," NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. "We believe we have developed that type of system. It uses advanced technology, but it is simple to operate. We did not want to bring back replay with the same system as 10 years ago."

In the original version, neither coaches nor referees were involved. A replay official stationed upstairs decided when to stop the game to check a play and when to overturn a call made on the field. The replay official used two VCRs to review plays.

The league's new computerized system--developed by Leitch, a Toronto-based technology company--still reviews every play, but now coaches are permitted two challenges per game, using a pager device to notify officials. In the last two minutes of each half, only the replay official can stop the game to review a questionable call.

At every game, four individuals work the replay booth: a replay official, technician, video operator and communicator. The replay assistant is the only link to the field referee, who makes the final decision on the call.

"Now, the referees make all the decisions," said Mike Pereira, an NFL supervisor of officials. "We don't make any decisions upstairs. I don't think [officials] will be intimidated. We still empower them to make the decisions. I don't think they'll change the way they officiate. This is a great stride from where we were."

The old replay system lasted six NFL seasons but from Day 1 it had problems. Too often, games were stopped for long periods of time to review calls and the correct decision wasn't always reached. Officials on the field were out of the decision-making process and simply awaited word from upstairs.