The problem is that Tyson ignores the definition of forward pass. He is correct that, using Wilson and Davis as a frame of reference, the pass was not forward.
If Tyson had been asked whether, using the point at which the ball left Wilson's hand and the goal line as a frame of reference, the pass was forward, he surely would have said "yes." Sure, we can use science to say the pass was forward or backwards, in fact, or to say that the pass didn't actually move at all. What time does the station get to the train?
To ask the question of whether the pass was a forward pass UNDER THE RULES, we need to look at the rules, and what the RULES use as a frame of reference.
Under the NFL rules, it is a forward pass if the ball initially moves forward to a point nearer the opponent's goal line after leaving the passer's hand(s) or the ball first strikes the ground, a player, an official, or anything else at a point that is nearer the opponent's goal line than the point at which the ball leaves the passer's hand(s). Under this rule, there is indisputable video evidence that the pass was forward.
Yes, scientifically, we can say that the Wilson pass to Davis was forward, backwards, or did not move. If Wilson was not in a football game, but just standing still in a park facing north and threw a ball over his head to Davis standing 23 yards to the to south of Davis, most of us would say he threw the ball backwards. However, if Wilson does that while standing at his own 47 facing his own goal line and Davis is standing at the Eagles 30, we would understand easily that it is a forward pass. The actual pass to Davis was also forward under the rules.
I believe similarly, Ford's pass was forward. The problem is that in real time, a referee is usually going to be fooled if the pass is NOT forward relative to the passer and receiver involved in the pass. If Ford throw a ball back over his shoulder while facing the opponent's goal line, the refs won't call a forward pass, even if the ball hit Moen at a point nearer the goal line than the point at which the ball left Ford's hands (due to the speed of Ford and Moen relative to the ground/goal line). With knowledge of the rules, instant replay would have ruled the Wilson-Davis pass to be forward, and probably would have done the same with the Ford-Moen pass. Since the Eagles did not call for a review, and since replay review didn't exist in 1982, it doesn't really matter, the naked eye judgment is what matters.
"Officer, I wasn't speeding. Just ask Neil deGrasse Tyson, relative to the other cars on the freeway, I was only going 45 mph, and the speed limit is 70. Tyson will support me." "Yeah, but I asked Tyson how fast you were going relative to the center of the Milky Way, and based on how fast he says you were going, your license will be taken away for the next billion years."
