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Replacement refs embarrass the NFL on Monday Night Football
Posted by Michael David Smith on September 17, 2012, 10:10 PM EDT
Denver Broncos v Atlanta Falcons Getty Images
There’s no sugar-coating it: The replacement officials working Monday Night Football are an embarrassment.
In an ugly first quarter that lasted a full hour, the officials showed themselves to be completely incapable of keeping a game moving and keeping up with the fast-paced, stressful job that is officiating in the NFL.
In what may have been the single biggest display of incompetence so far in this lockout of the NFL referees, there was a six-minute delay late in the first quarter while the officials attempted to straighten out what happened when Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno fumbled and players on both sides were pushing and shoving in a pileup. Players came off the bench to get into the scrum. Coaches came off the sideline to get involved. Players were getting in officials’ faces and yelling at them, and in some cases putting their hands on the officials. The officials seemed totally overwhelmed and unsure how to restore order.
In the end, only one player (Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards, whom the referee referred to as “93 red”) was penalized, and no one was ejected. It’s a mystery why other players weren’t penalized. In particular, why wasn’t Broncos center J.D. Walton ejected for grabbing an official and pulling him away from the pile?
It also wasn’t clear that the Falcons actually recovered the fumble — the Broncos looked like they jumped on it — although the fact that the officials might have awarded possession to the wrong team became a side issue in the chaos that ensued.
The pileup after the Moreno fumble was only the most glaring of several instances in which it was clear that the officials didn’t have control over the game. At another point, Broncos coach John Fox screamed at the officials and appeared to get a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct, but the officials picked up the flag and didn’t explain why they hadn’t enforced the penalty. There was also a penalty on the Broncos for hitting Matt Ryan after he slid — which was the right call, although the flag only came out after the Falcons started complaining and the crowd started grumbling. Officials need to look like they’re swift, decisive and immune to outside influence, not like they’re influenced by people yelling at them.
Since I started here by calling the replacement officials an embarrassment, let me conclude by making clear that they’re not an embarrassment to themselves — they’re doing the best they can at a hard job they were thrown into with too little training. No, they’re an embarrassment to Roger Goodell and the NFL owners, who are allowing underqualified and unprepared people to tarnish a great league.
Replacement refs embarrass the NFL on Monday Night Football
Posted by Michael David Smith on September 17, 2012, 10:10 PM EDT
Denver Broncos v Atlanta Falcons Getty Images
There’s no sugar-coating it: The replacement officials working Monday Night Football are an embarrassment.
In an ugly first quarter that lasted a full hour, the officials showed themselves to be completely incapable of keeping a game moving and keeping up with the fast-paced, stressful job that is officiating in the NFL.
In what may have been the single biggest display of incompetence so far in this lockout of the NFL referees, there was a six-minute delay late in the first quarter while the officials attempted to straighten out what happened when Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno fumbled and players on both sides were pushing and shoving in a pileup. Players came off the bench to get into the scrum. Coaches came off the sideline to get involved. Players were getting in officials’ faces and yelling at them, and in some cases putting their hands on the officials. The officials seemed totally overwhelmed and unsure how to restore order.
In the end, only one player (Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards, whom the referee referred to as “93 red”) was penalized, and no one was ejected. It’s a mystery why other players weren’t penalized. In particular, why wasn’t Broncos center J.D. Walton ejected for grabbing an official and pulling him away from the pile?
It also wasn’t clear that the Falcons actually recovered the fumble — the Broncos looked like they jumped on it — although the fact that the officials might have awarded possession to the wrong team became a side issue in the chaos that ensued.
The pileup after the Moreno fumble was only the most glaring of several instances in which it was clear that the officials didn’t have control over the game. At another point, Broncos coach John Fox screamed at the officials and appeared to get a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct, but the officials picked up the flag and didn’t explain why they hadn’t enforced the penalty. There was also a penalty on the Broncos for hitting Matt Ryan after he slid — which was the right call, although the flag only came out after the Falcons started complaining and the crowd started grumbling. Officials need to look like they’re swift, decisive and immune to outside influence, not like they’re influenced by people yelling at them.
Since I started here by calling the replacement officials an embarrassment, let me conclude by making clear that they’re not an embarrassment to themselves — they’re doing the best they can at a hard job they were thrown into with too little training. No, they’re an embarrassment to Roger Goodell and the NFL owners, who are allowing underqualified and unprepared people to tarnish a great league.
that was the weirdest called thing I have ever seen.
That last drive was totally rigged imo.. these refs can be bought (especially if u think the regular refs cant be).. these guys know they are losing their job soon and they could easily be bought for a few 100k.. im sure Pete Carrol is enjoying his victory but he has to know deep down inside that was totally a bs call and that game was suspect to say the least.
I had under for the record.. so i didnt care for the ending of the game just wanted it to be good.. and trust me its unforgettable
lol
-murph
That last drive was totally rigged imo.. these refs can be bought (especially if u think the regular refs cant be).. these guys know they are losing their job soon and they could easily be bought for a few 100k.. im sure Pete Carrol is enjoying his victory but he has to know deep down inside that was totally a bs call and that game was suspect to say the least.
I had under for the record.. so i didnt care for the ending of the game just wanted it to be good.. and trust me its unforgettable
lol-murph
I dont blame them.
I would keep raising the price every week.
Make Goodell know that for every week he does not get a deal done the price goes up.
I heard your argument that they are asking too much and are overpaid.
I disagree 100%.
It is very apparent that there is only a very small group of people in the entire world that is capable of calling an NFL to any kind of level of competency.
Thats the classic example of supply and demand.
The officials took a gamble by letting the replacements take the field to start the season.
If the replacements would have proven themselves capable the real refs would have lost all leverage and would have had to return in shame with whatever the league deemed they were worthy of making.
But there gamble paid off.
People dont remember but baseball had an umpire strike 10 or 15 years ago. As it turned out the replacements (although not quite as good as the regular umps) did a decent job to the point where the regular umps pretty much had to settle for what MLB offered.
Because its easier to call a baseball game then a football game so the talent pool was much larger.
But the replacements for the NFL have proven that they cant replace the real officials.
This is an joke.
The NFL is a multi billion dollar business that is too chicken shit cheap to pay the very small group of officials in the entire world that is capable of getting the job done.
If I were the officials I would raise the price every week they dont get a deal.
I see your point, but this is considered a part time job for which they are very, very well compensated for. The average ref makes $8500 a game, and they have a sweet benefits package. Really, IMO they are already overpaid and what they are asking for is unreasonable.
But I am torn. I don't know who I hate worse now after watching this game- Goodell or the refs.
$8500 a game is not overpaid when there is only a small number of people in the entire world that is capable of doing what they do.
If more people where capable of doing what they do the market would demand that there pay be adjusted accordingly.
If 250 million people in America were not capable of flipping burgers they would not make just $6 an hour.
The smaller the talent pool is in any industry combined with demand for that talent determines how much money that field makes.
If there were 32 Aaron Rogers in the NFL Aaron Rodgers would not make 20 mil a year, he would only make 3 or 4 million a year.
If the replacements would have come out and proven that they could get the job done they could have busted the officials union wide open and forced the real officials not only to back off of there demands, but get threatened to have there pay cut even further then what they make now or lose there job altogether. Which is basically exactly what happened to the umpires in MLB.
There is nothing in the NFL thats more important then the integrity of the game.
You can put a price on it.
And since there is only a few people in the world that is trained well enough to do it well there demands are very inline with what they are worth.
$8500 per game is peanuts to the NFL. Every team generates over $100million + more if they make the playoffs.
After tonight Goodell is going to be under a lot of pressure to get the real refs back. Owners, fans, corp sponsors, season ticket holders, networks are going to be calling his office tomorrow. His secretary is going to hear a lot of swearing. He needs to do whatever it takes to get the real guys back. If he doesn't he should be fired as commissioner.
After tonight Goodell is going to be under a lot of pressure to get the real refs back. Owners, fans, corp sponsors, season ticket holders, networks are going to be calling his office tomorrow. His secretary is going to hear a lot of swearing. He needs to do whatever it takes to get the real guys back. If he doesn't he should be fired as commissioner.
I suspect if you give the cream of the D1 crop the same level of experience the difference would be negligible, if even noticeable. The last time the NFL referees went on strike, D1 refs filled in and performed admirably. The only reason it is so blatantly bad is because they have Division III guys, high school guys and a dude from the goddamn Lingerie Football League.
Im sure there are a lot of doctors who would have made damm good lawyers if they would have gone to law school instead of medical school.
And im sure there lawyers who could have been great doctors if they would have gone to medical school instead of law school.
Im sure if Lebron James would have dedicated himself at a young age he could have been an All Pro wide receiver.
I bet Barry Sanders could have been one of the all time great soccer players if he would have wanted to.
Could you imagine H Bolt the fastest man in the world?
He could have probably been one hell of a football player.
I never said being an NFL ref is a talent that cant be acquired by other reasonably smart people.
But talent are pools are not measured by how many people could be good at something if they take that path in life.
Talent pools are measured by determining how many people right now can do said talent.
People are not paid for what they could know.
They are paid for what they do know.
I never said in my other post that these real refs are the only people in the world that is capable of doing what they do well.
I said they are the only refs in the world that are trained to do what they well.
I bet you if these replacements committed themselves for 10 years or so going through the school of hard knocks like the real officials did once upon a time.
There is no doubt in my mind that a certain percentage of them could develop into NFL quality refs.
But that has not happened yet.
So its a moot point.
You guys with the part time referee thing going just have NO CONCEPT of value.
It doesnt matter if its part time or full time, its how much VALUE you provide.
---A man has a toothache so he goes to the dentist to get the tooth pulled
Man-How long does this take?
Doc-Once you are numbed up, about 5 minutes
Man-How much does it cost
Doc-$150
Man-You mean you want $150 for 5 minutes of work
Doc- I can take longer if you want.
It doesnt matter if its part time or full time, its how much VALUE you provide.
---A man has a toothache so he goes to the dentist to get the tooth pulled
Man-How long does this take?
Doc-Once you are numbed up, about 5 minutes
Man-How much does it cost
Doc-$150
Man-You mean you want $150 for 5 minutes of work
Doc- I can take longer if you want.
exactly.
The real refs have proven for over 50 years that they are capable of doing a reasonably good job calling the games on a part time basis.
No need to force them to work full time since they have proved over the years they can get the job done part time.
You are not paid for how many hours you put in.
You are paid because you can do your job.
If the NFL required all these part time real officials to go full time.
Well over 50% of these officials if not more then 50% would quit on the spot.
Ed Hochuli for example owns a law firm in Arizona.
If he was forced to work full time he would quit on the spot.
Thats just one example.
There are dozens of other examples just like him.
90% of these officials have high paying full time jobs outside of officiating that they would never leave if they were forced to pick one or the other.
So if the NFL ever gets there way and forces the officials to work fulltime it would be a disaster at least for the first 3 or 4 because they would lose half the officials that are in the league right now.
There is still enough subtle differences with the rules between Division 1 and the NFL to make the NFL nervous when those refs are out on the field. Like being able to face guard on pass plays in the NFL. Interference calls have been the biggest problem with these replacement refs. It takes years of experience at the much faster paced NFL level to make a resonable call EVERY time. And right now the only refs that can do this are sitting at home laughing at the NFL. NFL officiating is a skill just like playing football. And hopefuly the NFL is finally starting to get it after last night's fiasco.
