Replacement Officials

[swellvermin]

NEW YORK -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says possibly using replacement referees for regular-season games is worthwhile to ensure long-term improvements to officiating.

The league and the NFL Referees Association have yet to reach an agreement, and Goodell acknowledged Thursday that time was running out to make the regular officials available for the openers.

"We're anxious to get a deal done, but it has to get done that it's going to help us for the long term," Goodell said at a fantasy football event in Times Square. "It's not a short-term issue."

Officials probably need a week to 10 days to prepare for the season, Goodell said, and the first game is Sept. 5, 13 days away. The first full Sunday of games is Sept. 9.

"These officials have been trained," Goodell said of the replacement refs who have been calling preseason games. "We've been working with them. We think they'll do a very credible job."

NFLRA lead negotiator Mike Arnold said Thursday that officials have been training on their own during the lockout and would need less than a week to prep.

"We're ready to go," he said.

While the NFL and officials disagree on some financial matters, Goodell also characterized the differences as "philosophical." The NFL's proposal includes making some refs full time -- currently all game officials work part time with outside jobs -- and adding more crews.

Arnold said that the union was open to discussing such issues, but any proposal to increase the number of officials while decreasing the pay for current refs was not viable.

Increasing the pool of officials would allow the league to replace individual officials or entire crews that are not performing well, Goodell said.

"Then it's based on performance, which is what fans all want, players all want, coaches all want," he said.

The replacement officials have been closely scrutinized during the preseason, with any error quickly pointed out by media and fans.

"It's not our job to judge the replacements, because their performance speaks for itself," Arnold said.

Goodell said he wasn't concerned that teams and fans would question the credibility of results if that inevitable first disputed call of the season takes place while replacement officials are on the field.

"We have controversial calls. Officiating is an imperfect science," he said. "They're not going to be correct all the time, but we have systems in place to try to help. We have instant replay, as an example, to try to help correct those mistakes. ... It's like any game. We get calls every Monday from fans, from coaches, from teams upset about a particular call. That happens. And it will happen going forward regardless of who's on the field."

[Cnasty]

Ive watched about 3 or 4 preseason games and these guys are BAD. Like real bad.

I dont see how they can go through the regular season with these guys unless they think they are going to improve.

I wonder why they dont promote college guys but I guess they would lose their college gig if the NFL struck a deal.

[buckeye76]

Ive watched about 3 or 4 preseason games and these guys are BAD. Like real bad.

I dont see how they can go through the regular season with these guys unless they think they are going to improve.

I wonder why they dont promote college guys but I guess they would lose their college gig if the NFL struck a deal.

Agree!!!

[mbyrd75]

just keeps getting uglier

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutd ... --nfl.html

[Cnasty]

It's uncomfortable to watch

[swellvermin]

The result of the play is....the result of the play is....the result of the penalty is....

[yougoogelizer]

Week 1 of regular season is gonna be ugly.

[ajalves]

The refs always stink.

maybe not quite to this level.

This happened 10 years ago and it didnt ruin much

[swellvermin]

Week 1 of regular season is gonna be ugly.

[Cnasty]

The refs always stink.

maybe not quite to this level.

This happened 10 years ago and it didnt ruin much

Don't you ever say another bad word about ed hoculi again!!

[mbyrd75]

my absolute FAVORITE nfl ref moment in history

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eslz06J9hFw[/youtube]

[Seeitsaveit13]

We had an INT tonight (we threw it) that was blown dead on the field, but the guy took it into the endzone. The INT itself was close, so they reviewed it, and after reviewing it, said it was an INT (it was) and then said that it was a TD, even though it had been blown dead on the field

[buckeye76]

The refs always stink.

maybe not quite to this level.

This happened 10 years ago and it didnt ruin much

From what I understand they are asking for a little raise. It's not much. Pay the professionals please so we don't have to deal with the scab replacements.

[swellvermin]

The refs always stink.

maybe not quite to this level.

This happened 10 years ago and it didnt ruin much

From what I understand they are asking for a little raise. It's not much. Pay the professionals please so we don't have to deal with the scab replacements.

Drew Brees just signed a new contract that will pay him $40 million in 2012. Players' salaries are paid per game during the regular season. That is 16 paychecks. For Brees, that comes out to him earning $2.5 million per game. Gene Steratore, an official we hired in 2003 who is generally regarded as one of the better referees in the NFL, is the official in charge of protecting Brees and his $2.5 million per game. Steratore made $5,606 per game during the 2011 season and would like a raise to about $6,000 per game this season. The NFL is offering him $5,746. To sum this up, the NFL is offering its crew of well-trained officials a compensation increase of 2.5 percent. The officials are asking for 8 percent.

Greedy fucking bastards

[shel311]

The refs always stink.

maybe not quite to this level.

This happened 10 years ago and it didnt ruin much

From what I understand they are asking for a little raise. It's not much. Pay the professionals please so we don't have to deal with the scab replacements.

I don't even know what's going on, but i'm gonna blame Goodell.

[ajalves]

The refs always stink.

maybe not quite to this level.

This happened 10 years ago and it didnt ruin much

From what I understand they are asking for a little raise. It's not much. Pay the professionals please so we don't have to deal with the scab replacements.

I don't even know what's going on, but i'm gonna blame Goodell.

actually thats not exactly it

the way i understand it they normally have enough officials to cover however many games they have every week. The NFL wants to bring in 2 extra sets of officals that would rotate through. in effect, this would give ref "teams" a week off here and there and they only get paid when they work.

they might also want a little raise, but i dont think that is the primary issue

[swellvermin]

Gave one of the teams in Seattle/Arizona game a 4th time out.

[I_S33M_THAB33T_U]

Gave one of the teams in Seattle/Arizona game a 4th time out.

Seattle. There was alot of questionable calls in the GB/49ers game also.

[swellvermin]

Tried to pull a fast one on pitt and officials missed it. Mmm mmm mmmm

[xLiQx]

Yeah, I watched alot of the games today, and there were so much going on after the whistles..pushing, shoving, grabing each other, and no ref took charge of the game, was kind of ugly, and yes. The gave the Hawks a 4th timeout.