Time’s up, NFL
The replacement referees were an embarrassment to the National Football League even before the debacle in Seattle.
Signs of trouble were evident from Week 1. The substitute officials were wildly inconsistent in their calls, especially on pass interference. There were moments when they simply did not know the rules on where to place the ball. Coaches and players smelled weakness, jawboning the jittery referees and glaring at them in contempt. On-field scuffles escalated.
The last straw for fans of the Green Bay Packers (or of fair play generally) came on the last play of the Pack’s game against the Seahawks. The NFL on Tuesday was forced to concede what a national television audience clearly saw Monday night: The refs missed an obvious penalty, which cost Green Bay the game.
It’s beyond crazy that a league that swims in profits and pays its top players in the tens of millions would allow the integrity of the game to be corrupted by officials who are learning on the job. Its dispute with the locked-out referees — who earn an average $150,000 a year for their part-time work — seems petty and self-destructive for a $9 billion-a-year business. The league needs to find a way to settle this dispute – and fast.
The NFL should count its blessings that the outrage that caused sports fans to scream “Enough!” was about the outcome of a game and not a devastating player injury.