Referee Pete Morelli laughs as he calls 5 penalties on one 49ers-Broncos punt

The preseason offers plenty of serious analysis, but it also provides plenty of absurdity. We saw that late in the third quarter of the 49ers-Broncos preseason game.

There are a ton of penalties in preseason play, and special teams in particular offers a ton of them. On one punt, we saw five penalties called. Bradley Pinion punted the ball, and penalties included the following (Broncos: receiving, 49ers: kicking):

Receiving team - holding #46 Dontrell Nelson
Receiving team - holding #81 Steven Scheu
Receiving team - Block in the back #80 Jake Butt
Receiving team - Personal foul #2 Dante Barnett
Kicking team - Holding #18 DeAndre Smelter

The referee, Pete Morelli, recognized the absurdity of the situation, breaking into laughter midway through. At the end, he said, “With all that, it’s an offset.”

I think the 49ers shrugging shoulders emoji summed this all up best. Oh preseason football, you’re so ridiculous.