Remember back in 2012, the last time the NFL had to deal with hiring replacement referees and how much of a disaster it was?
If you have not heard, the league is already in the process of starting the process once again, and if that happens it will be hard to watch just like it was the first time.
The NFL has not come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement with the Referees Association.
If a deal is not reached by May 31, then there will be a work stoppage akin to what happened in the 2012 season, which famously had replacement referees through the first three weeks of the regular season. The league is already making replacement ref plans as a contingency.
As one source said today: “Our direction (from owners) is not to be unprepared.”
What Is The Issue?
According to ESPN the NFL released Tuesday, league staff members could alert a replacement referee if they see clear and obvious evidence of an uncalled foul for roughing the passer, intentional grounding or an act that would normally lead to disqualification.
New replacement officials will begin training on May 1, which is a couple of months earlier than the last time this situation arose.
Maybe, just maybe the league should hire them full-time and then none of this would be an issue, and then have guys that have experience but don’t want to do it full-time be the backups? I think that makes perfect sense.
I understand they will have a handful of months off when the season is coming, but you can’t tell me that the NFL does not have the money to be able to pay those dudes in the offseason, and if they want, let them work outside the league calendar year.
To sum this up, the major issue is the league’s desire to increase accountability for poor performance and the union’s demand for higher salaries and better benefits, but I think the issue is they want more, but they are still doing poorly, if that makes sense.
Hiring full-time might help that, but it also might not, so that is the tough part.
Look at the MLB. For example, the ABS system has done wonders, and it’s only been one week of the season.
How about you have guys up in the booth or in New York to make sure they get the right call! If a bad call is made on the field, overturn it every single time.
Say the ref throws a flag, and before he turns his mic on, New York can buzz down and keep the call on the field or change it. I really think it is that simple.
Whether the Dallas Cowboys are good or not in 2026, nobody wants to watch replacement refs like they did for the first month of the season in 2012. It actually made some people appreciate how badly good the other guys were because the replacements were so bad!
Currently, no progress is being made with the current referees.
Next season is going to be really interesting…
😬😬😬
I am not sure how this is going to play out, but nobody wants to watch that product again, but that is the way it is heading, and the refs always have the upper hand because the product they put on the field to replace then will be so bad that the league will have no choice but to get to a number that the originals want to bring them back.
I am sure all of this will be old news by the time anyone reads this today, but it truly does stink that the NFL is the only sport that does not have these guys on a full-time payroll, and they need to be if they want to fix the issues that have every single year.
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