Should there be full time employed officials with the NFL?

The inconsistencies in officiating is being questioned by some of the greatest NFL minds lately along with many fan frustrations. Every week the calls are being scrutinized as to how this was a call and that was not. Bill Parcels spoke out about it as well as John Gruden consistently on MNF this season. Should these guys be employed by the NFL when they alredy are doctors, lawyers, judges and executives in the private and public sectors? Should they be required to have all the training and discipline that many of us have with a regular employer?

Full time officials of weekly rent a refs?

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

HELL YES!!!!

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

Hell no then they would have more time to be brainwashed by goodell

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

Yes. Given the huge audience of the game and the $ it generates I'm amazed they didn't go to full time employed refs years ago

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

I agree. Plus Refs need to be held accountable for their calls. They get fines too. You can have them call it one way then a no call for the same thing by the other team.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

teachers

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

No...the money hungry NFL will only want us to pay for them through higher priced ticket sales, merchandise etc. Goodell has ruined the league, regardless of whether the refs ar FT or PT. I'm only looking out for you all, as I have vowed not to give Goodell any more of my money.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

Too bad football isn't a summer sport.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

don't forget the 18 game schedule and god knows what else they might do to the playoff scenario ,add more teams add more games and keep moving the super bowl back.Could be in march before too long. the refs should go to training camp as well.maybe ,get certified on giving on the spot urine test to players. Put newe head gear on them as well,because we've all seen some of them fall down and break their crown.
Just filling out the calender year for them.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

With the unemployment rate still hovering around 10 % except in Bismark North Dakota, they can find any 1 of 10 people who will gladly take the position and be able to call the game more fairly than half of these game officials. Pay them 80K a year and then have them attend seminars at lavish vacation resorts til they expunge all the money accrued from the fines over the years. Once that money runs out then they should be trained enough to be eligible for a 100K a year and practice retirement in the off season.

Maybe they just need to mix up the crews more. It seems that all the officials work within the same crew each week. Mixing them up every week might just tighten the calls to be more in line with each other.

Anything is better than what they have now.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

This discussion has been going on for years and nothing has ever changed except that the refs keep getting worse.

I'm not sure why they are so bad but the speed of the game has been suggested as one of the reasons. I guess I can buy into that somewhat but with the amount of money the NFL generates you'd think that something could be done to get the calls more consistent. When refs keeps f-ing up, why are they back the next year? It seems they keep rewarding their incompetence. Surely there must be better refs in the college ranks than most of these yahoos.

I'm not sure how they prepare for games, but I'm guessing that they review film of the teams and look for tendencies. Then when they think they've seen something that was on film they throw the flag. I think they too strongly influenced by what they have watched on film / seen in the past.

I like the idea of paying them only after the season, based on their performance. Then, re-hiring them for the next season only if they were any good and didn't screw up / play dirty.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

My guess is if they weren't doctors and lawyers the NFL could pay the same amount of money they're paying now to other competent folks on a full time basis. As for the non-football months they could spend that time rotating around to all of the teams with a lot more education / feedback sessions. I think the refs do this one time a year now at training camp on a very limited basis. Not to mention they themselves coud get a lot more individual training and eduction on the rules and making calls more consistently. God knows many of them could use it.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

Then the NFL could start selling REF's jerseys :godell:

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

Not to hijack this thread but did anybody see BB talking to the ref after he got pummled to the ground after the play?

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

I don't believe having full time officials will bring about drastic improvement. That's because the games are not played year round. Difficult to train officials without live action.

It's difficult to say if the officiating is any worse then previous seasons. The NFL probably keeps stats on officials. It was stated that they grade officials based on performance. I don't believe that officials that grade poorly are around very long.

Two things that make it difficult for officials are the rules and speed of the players/game. Officials are imperfect people. The won't catch every penalty. They will make questionable/bad calls. People expecting officials to be near perfect are not being realistic.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

Good post. I don't see how paying officials full time makes them any better. They're still accountable, and they stil get paid some money which they'll use if they're repeatedly bad and don't get recalled.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

Maybe a core of "professional" in-booth referees that attend every game and are in contact with the on-field referee via headset. These "professional" in-booth referees can overturn bad calls on the field and attempt to catch the blatant non-calls. It would have to be fast so as not to slow the game down even more. OK, I'm desperate and it probably wouldn't work. I'm just sick and tired of constantly looking for flags every time a pass goes downfield.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

Fine them for egregious calls? Hell, they fire them. There's a lot of turn around year-to-year w/ NFL refs. If you score badly you are gone.

And maybe someone can explain to me how having guys, who in my humble opinon call too much now, will get better if they do nothing but watch film 9 to 5, M to F, from Feb to August. Lord, send me to prison instead.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

yes, ones that like US.

 

Re: Should there be full time employed officials with the NF

I say they should definitely be given full time jobs and serious money. The NFL is rolling in a pile of dough bigger than Scrooge McDuck's, and yet it's too stingy to bother getting officiating right? Seems like kind of important part to me.

Pay them a fair wage, fine them for egregious calls, and -- here's the best part people -- give them a bonus for every game they make with NO BAD CALLS. I'm talking about individual men. You have a staff that reviews each part of each game, and if a field judge doesn't miss a call all game, he gets a bonus. Same for the rest of them. That is motivation to not screw up your part. (Calls reversed by challenges do not count). In the offseason, they don't just watch film, they also ref practice games played by... anyone.