Having an eye in the sky
Owners expected to vote on adding extra official in booth
The NFL still hasn’t been able to get it right when it comes to making sure obvious calls aren’t missed, or blown by officials during games.
Whether it was the regular season or during the playoffs, botched calls were still very much a part of the game in 2019, once again leaving the NFL to answer to all the egregious errors made by officials.
Patriots fans don’t have to look any further than the Week 14 game against Kansas City. With the Pats in the middle of one of their patented fourth quarter comebacks, Tom Brady found N’Keal Harry on a crossing route. Harry fought his way to the end zone, finishing with a dive to the pylon. It sure looked like a touchdown.
Only it wasn’t. Officials deemed he had stepped out of bounds at the 3-yard line before hitting paydirt. The video replay, however, clearly showed Harry staying in bounds, but Bill Belichick was out of challenges. The mistake ultimately stood because it wasn’t called a scoring play on the field, meaning the officials couldn’t review it on their own.
So the Patriots had to settle for a field goal in a 23-16 loss to the Chiefs.
That type of play would have been corrected by an onsite booth official or “sky judge,” who would have accessed the video and communicated with the officials on the field, pointing out the missed call.
The good news?
The NFL might be on its way to employing one, as the competition committee has recommended to have the sky judge used in the preseason, with the potential to make tweaks for its inclusion in the regular season.
On Thursday, during a virtual meeting, the owners are expected to vote on the proposal, which was put forth by the Ravens and Chargers.
The concept of a sky judge and utilizing an eighth man in the booth has had positive results in the now defunct Alliance for American Football (AAF) and XFL.
With NFL officiating under more fire than ever following another season marred by blunders, there’s no good reason why the league shouldn’t adopt the same system.
NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, in an interview with Peter King for Football Morning in America, thought having a sky judge had “some merit” but didn’t think there was enough of a pipeline of officials to make it happen right away.
“Can we get there? Yes,” said Vincent. “But today, it could be a challenge.”
The first step is having a trial during the preseason, if that goes off in August.
Vincent cautioned not rushing into implementing an eighth official given how the one-year experiment with the pass interference replay review failed.
Many head coaches, however, appear to be in favor of adopting this strategy to help get the calls right. And why not? Officials would have the benefit of all the HD video and different camera angles viewers see at home. The sky judge would work in conjunction with the head official.
Former NFL offensive lineman Damien Woody, now an ESPN analyst, was in favor of the move when reached by the Herald Tuesday.
“I thought it was cool when the XFL did that. That’s one thing I was really bullish about, when we saw it in the XFL,” said Woody. “The fact that the NFL is possibly adding it to the mix … I think they saw the value in it themselves. So, I actually like it. I want to see what it looks like in the preseason. I think it’ll be good for the game, and I’m a traditionalist. I usually like things the way they are. But, I think this element, I think this could be good for the NFL.”
While it’s possible for the NFL to see how it works in the preseason, there are still issues to iron out.
The biggest? Having enough qualified personnel to handle the job.
Jim Daopoulos, a former NFL Supervisor of Officials, told the Herald he likes the concept, but questions who qualifies to be a sky judge, doubting there are enough officials to adequately perform the role.
“You try to put the best you have out on the field,” said Daopoulos. “Now, who are you going to put up for a sky judge? I think it’s a great concept, I like the concept, but my feeling is, who are you going to put up there? Are you going to put supervisors up there? Are you going to have to have 16 individuals working the games every week? And who’s to say they’re better than the guys on the field?”
Daopoulos also pointed to booth reviews done in New York, which haven’t always gone correctly. So the NFL needs to tread carefully when providing guidelines.
“Having an extra set of eyes is a great idea,” said Daopoulos, “but, you don’t want them officiating up there, you want them helping out.”
Given those concerns, the full implementation of a sky judge might not be viable just yet, just as Vincent hinted. At this point, it’s for the owners to decide whether to proceed and investigate the move, and if it works in the preseason, see if the league can ultimately make it happen down the road.
Said Woody: “I’m all for the human element, but if you can get it right, why not go for it? I’m all in favor.”