WHISTLING IN THE DARK
The real NFL referees are back, with increased appreciation and respect from players, but don’t expect all Steelers to break all their old habits
The real refs are back, and, while Steelers players say they discovered a new appreciation for them after watching their replacements try to call games, that won’t stop linebacker Larry Foote from treating them any differently.
“It’s an emotional game,” Foote said after hearing the lockout was over. “I’m always yelling at the officials — old, new, replacement”
Yet he welcomes the return of the professionals because he saw what happened during the preseason and the three regular-season games with the replacements.
“They are the best at what they do, no doubt about that. We can clearly see that. Without those guys, the play is a lot slower, some bad
calls. They can see it, their eyes are trained for it and they’re prepared and have the time for it.”
Offensive left guard Willie Colon said players carping on the real officials should take a different turn after they saw the poor officiating that went on without them.
“It’s one of those things where they got a lot of crap before because we always thought they were bad refs. Now to really see what bad looks like, we’re appreciative of them.
“I think I’m more worried about the integrity of the [NFL] shield, honestly. There’s a brand of football everyone expects to see, especially with the players, let alone with the refs. Anytime that’s not displayed, it’s just bad, so I’m glad they’re getting back to work.”
Ryan Clark, the Steelers union player representative, said having the real refs back is “good for the league” but cautioned that it won’t mean the end of controversial calls.
“It’s going to be really funny when they make their gamechanging calls or a call that decides the game negatively or positively. The thing we can’t forget, no matter what we feel about the replacement officials, the other officials aren’t perfect, either. They’re going to make mistakes, and we have to understand that.
“But it’s exciting to have them back, get the guys who have been doing it for years out there again.”
Appreciate them? Nah, Clark said.
“We still won’t appreciate them. They call pass interference on me, I’m still not going to like it. They call unnecessary roughness, I’m not going to like it.
“But you are excited to see maybe, hopefully, the flow of the games get back. I think there definitely will be a rapport between the coaches and the referees, and some of the players and the referees because you’ve seen these guys. Some of those guys have been to Latrobe. So for us, there will be that familiarity that comes back, so it will be good for the whole league.”
What Clark expects to return with the veteran refs is consistency.
“I think we kind of missed that consistency. Those [replacements] tried their best to do a good job, but just not having the experience of doing it on this level — you’d see some calls made and then you’d see the next play looks just like it and that call wasn’t made. So, it’s that consistency and understanding of what’s being called.”