Somewhere in the back of the classifieds section in local newspapers across the country, I have yet to hear where to find the “NFL referees for hire” section.
You think they would make the ad large enough for as big as the job is, right?
Apparently not.
Yet again — for five weeks straight — the replacement referees seem to be doing everything in their power to affect the outcome of NFL games.
From unorthodox penalties to uneducated decisions on the field, replacement referees are moving closer and closer to costing a team a “W” in the win column, possibly hurting playoff implications.
Who would have thought one or two calls during a game could actually affect the outcome of an entire 60-minute game?
We’ve all seen it before: Where fans get heated and say that call cost their team the game. I’m sure these replacements create a whole new perspective on that.
Coaches and players continuously turn their anger and frustration into a statement of, “They’re trying their best.”
It is the end of Week 1 of the regular season, and I am already done trying to give the officials any more kind of credit.
They’re just not getting the job done correctly.
At most jobs, not getting the job done results in a “Don’t let the door hit you in the behind on the way out”.
In New York, Wednesday night for the Giants and Dallas Cowboys game, not a single penalty flag was thrown in the third quarter on a third-and-goal pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz.
A flag should have been thrown for defensive holding that would have resulted in a first down inside the 5-yard line.
Instead, the Giants settled for a field goal and ended up losing by a touchdown.
That call drastically alters the game.
Instead of the Giants only needing a late-game field goal, they needed a game-tying touchdown drive late in the game.
After the game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the replacement referees did a “more than adequate job” during the game.
Goodell was somewhat right, as the referees did seem to make proper calls for the most part — except for one of the bigger calls of the game.
I understand, even real referees make mistakes — everyone does — but they don’t significantly change the outcome of the game “that much.”
That is where the NFL and Goodell need to open their eyes and see the difference between the two.
Since Wednesday night’s game and Goodell’s statement, more issues have arisen with the referees.
Sunday’s games saw a wide variety of mistakes from the referees.
The more notable one was in the Arizona-Seattle game, when referees gave Seattle an extra timeout with 30 seconds remaining in the game, while Seattle was in the red-zone.
During a previous play, Seattle wide receiver Doug Baldwin went down with an injury inside two minutes, which according to NFL rules results in loss of a timeout.
That would have been Seattle’s third timeout.
By the referees not knowing the appropriate rules, they awarded Seattle the extra timeout, allowing them to draw up another play inside Arizona’s 10-yard line.
Thankfully, the unwarranted timeout did not affect the outcome of the game, as Arizona’s defense shut down Seattle on four straight plays to win the game.
Calls in both Green Bay-San Francisco and Cleveland-Philadelphia’s games created a dark spotlight on the referees as well.
Past professional referees are stating the replacement referees do not have a grasp on the rules of the game well enough.
Many of them seem to be routine calls and are either being missed or misunderstood.
After one week of the regular season, the NFL should see how important the real referees are to the game of football, and can hopefully get a deal done to settle the officials' labor dispute.
According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the two sides are more than $45 million apart over the next seven years.
In the words of Jerry Maguire, “Show them the money!” so we can get back to football.
Reach the columnist at msterrel@asu.edu
