• Please be aware we've switched the forums to their own URL. (again) You'll find the new website address to be www.steelernationforum.com Thanks
  • Please clear your private messages. Your inbox is close to being full.

Referees and their habit of "looking" for certain penalties against certain teams

Two words define officiating in today’s NFL… Inconsistency and incompetence.
Today’s officials for the most part have other jobs, bankers, lawyers, accountants, professional people.
I’ve always said this is the wrong formula for a critical part of the game today. I think what should be adopted these people should be full time employees of the NFL and in the off season train and study film from the previous seasons games, attend monthly meetings to discuss what they’ve learned and see on film.
Have a grading system where these officials are graded by an officials committee and if they don’t attain a certain grade they are put on probation. If it continues throughout the probation period then they are dismissed.
Have a practice squad so you can call up replacements.
I realize it would be expensive to pay these guys year round but this is a billion dollar league and if they want integrity then imo they need full time officials.
 
Steeler Pride said:
Not entirely, as the full time refs will still be struggling with rules "interpretations" and subjective interpretations the same as the Geriatric Crews that we have now. However, what changes is that now instead of having 60 year old doctors, attorneys, and financial planners running 10 yards behind every play, you can hopefully get some 25-30 year old former college or NFL players that know the game more intimately, understand intent, and can keep up with the speed of the game better. That is a benefit for everyone involved.
Click to expand...
excellent idea !
 
steelhurt said:
Two words define officiating in today’s NFL… Inconsistency and incompetence.
Today’s officials for the most part have other jobs, bankers, lawyers, accountants, professional people.
I’ve always said this is the wrong formula for a critical part of the game today. I think what should be adopted these people should be full time employees of the NFL and in the off season train and study film from the previous seasons games, attend monthly meetings to discuss what they’ve learned and see on film.
Have a grading system where these officials are graded by an officials committee and if they don’t attain a certain grade they are put on probation. If it continues throughout the probation period then they are dismissed.
Have a practice squad so you can call up replacements.
I realize it would be expensive to pay these guys year round but this is a billion dollar league and if they want integrity then imo they need full time officials.
Click to expand...
another excellent point...

Damn! yinz should be Commissioner!
 
The refs are fair. When calling penalties they are like Supreme Court justices. They guide safety and fairness for all.

This message paid for by the committee to extend Roger Goodells contact.
 
steelhurt said:
Two words define officiating in today’s NFL… Inconsistency and incompetence.
Today’s officials for the most part have other jobs, bankers, lawyers, accountants, professional people.
I’ve always said this is the wrong formula for a critical part of the game today. I think what should be adopted these people should be full time employees of the NFL and in the off season train and study film from the previous seasons games, attend monthly meetings to discuss what they’ve learned and see on film.
Have a grading system where these officials are graded by an officials committee and if they don’t attain a certain grade they are put on probation. If it continues throughout the probation period then they are dismissed.
Have a practice squad so you can call up replacements.
I realize it would be expensive to pay these guys year round but this is a billion dollar league and if they want integrity then imo they need full time officials.
Click to expand...

I believe they already have most of that. Refs are constantly given written tests and their film is graded. I don;t think being full time would change anything.

There are 3 things that now seem to be causing problems

1. The rules committee keeps changing rules and making them more vague. They should abolish the rules committee because they seem to feel compelled to make a few changes every single year.

2. Broadcasts have better technology that means everyone can see slo-mo and enhanced HD images from more angles than ever before. This alone means you are bound to see more "wrong" calls. No ref could possibly be right all the time which so much field to cover and the speed of the game, plus vague rules. We're just noticing everything more.

3. NFL is putting too many inexperienced officials on the field. Officials who have been fast tracked to the NFL without the usual amount of lower level experience. They are doing this for reasons. They are doing the same with airline pilots too. Probably won't lead to any issues.
 
I don't think full time refs will make a difference. I watch alot of UFC events and belong to a forum. Some guys are ex fighters and most train in some capacity. Scoring is all over the place from both judges and viewers. Viewers have slow mo, close ups, many replays etc etc and still can't agree alot the time. A ref has to make calls in real time in a split second. No matter how much refs are trained you still making judgemental calls in less than a second. Short of going to full replay for penalties calls are going to be inconsistent
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
I believe they already have most of that. Refs are constantly given written tests and their film is graded. I don;t think being full time would change anything.

There are 3 things that now seem to be causing problems

1. The rules committee keeps changing rules and making them more vague. They should abolish the rules committee because they seem to feel compelled to make a few changes every single year.

2. Broadcasts have better technology that means everyone can see slo-mo and enhanced HD images from more angles than ever before. This alone means you are bound to see more "wrong" calls. No ref could possibly be right all the time which so much field to cover and the speed of the game, plus vague rules. We're just noticing everything more.

3. NFL is putting too many inexperienced officials on the field. Officials who have been fast tracked to the NFL without the usual amount of lower level experience. They are doing this for reasons. They are doing the same with airline pilots too. Probably won't lead to any issues.
Click to expand...
Excellent points Tape.

I think your point about vagueness in rules is excellent, and leads to the obvious endpoint: the NFL does not want fulltime refs.

The question is "why"?

That has a simple answer for a $10B organization: the NFL does not want fulltime refs because the NFL does not deem this in its best interests.

This begs the question again: "why is this not in the NFL's self-interest?" and the answer seems obvious to me: Control. The NFL is pleased that technology and vagueness gives the league the ability to review and rule on all from their own un-accountable NY headquarters.

This doesn't mean that they seek to change the outcome of games, but it certainly means that they look at all scoring plays and all close calls in last 2 mins. They clearly have influence; everyone here recalls Al Riveron's great influence on Jesse James TD catch.

Over the years since, the judges in NY have become un-named and unaccountable: the NFL gods the league wants and controls. They are doing the work of the NFL, not its fans or teams. If the NFL thinks the NFL is better off with a Marsha Brady is GOAT narrative, then its easy, in the blink of an eye, to interpret video in the manner consistent with that storyline.

The NFL commercials from the early part of the season -- where they make crazy plotline ideas for the season -- are parodies based on the real story archs that the NFL and its advertisers build and evolve. There is a lot of money being ahead of the curve. Imagine knowing that Kelce was actually gonna get teenage girls to buy gear last summer.

I'm not suggesting that the NFL is cheating overtly, but rather that its decisions in realtime are more consistent with its narrative when they control more decisions. They even have former officials on broadcasts guiding the listeners to an interpretation of why the replay decision is ok, rather than the more useful -- to fans -- correction of a bad call on the field and in the booth. This happened on DJ's non TD catch, and was only gently corrected later, actually blaming the Steelers for the refs bad call. That the rules only allow league replay on a scoring play is nonsensical, because every Steeler fan knows that was 7 points the Steelers did not get.

Full time refs would mean more scrutiny and accountability and less NY influence. I just do not see why the NFL would give that up?
 
Steeltime said:
Yikes, Arizona has been called for offensive holding 24 times! I expect to see a couple holding calls involving #90 of the Steelers.

Meaning he will be called for holding an offensive lineman, of course.
Click to expand...
TJ does hold a lot on 4th downs
 
Confluence said:
Excellent points Tape.

I think your point about vagueness in rules is excellent, and leads to the obvious endpoint: the NFL does not want fulltime refs.

The question is "why"?

That has a simple answer for a $10B organization: the NFL does not want fulltime refs because the NFL does not deem this in its best interests.

This begs the question again: "why is this not in the NFL's self-interest?" and the answer seems obvious to me: Control. The NFL is pleased that technology and vagueness gives the league the ability to review and rule on all from their own un-accountable NY headquarters.

This doesn't mean that they seek to change the outcome of games, but it certainly means that they look at all scoring plays and all close calls in last 2 mins. They clearly have influence; everyone here recalls Al Riveron's great influence on Jesse James TD catch.

Over the years since, the judges in NY have become un-named and unaccountable: the NFL gods the league wants and controls. They are doing the work of the NFL, not its fans or teams. If the NFL thinks the NFL is better off with a Marsha Brady is GOAT narrative, then its easy, in the blink of an eye, to interpret video in the manner consistent with that storyline.

The NFL commercials from the early part of the season -- where they make crazy plotline ideas for the season -- are parodies based on the real story archs that the NFL and its advertisers build and evolve. There is a lot of money being ahead of the curve. Imagine knowing that Kelce was actually gonna get teenage girls to buy gear last summer.

I'm not suggesting that the NFL is cheating overtly, but rather that its decisions in realtime are more consistent with its narrative when they control more decisions. They even have former officials on broadcasts guiding the listeners to an interpretation of why the replay decision is ok, rather than the more useful -- to fans -- correction of a bad call on the field and in the booth. This happened on DJ's non TD catch, and was only gently corrected later, actually blaming the Steelers for the refs bad call. That the rules only allow league replay on a scoring play is nonsensical, because every Steeler fan knows that was 7 points the Steelers did not get.

Full time refs would mean more scrutiny and accountability and less NY influence. I just do not see why the NFL would give that up?
Click to expand...

It sounds good to want full time refs but football is not like other sports. Baseball, basketball, hockey have seasons that last 8 or 9 months and they're daily. They must have full time refs.

Football has 1 game per week for 3 preseason + 18 regular season weeks. Technically, a football ref works 60 minutes per week. Who is going to pay any employee to sit around a do nothing for 90% of the time, besides the government of course?

It would be a pay cut for refs too. Pretty much all of them have "day jobs". If you made them fulltime, they'd have to quit those jobs which would likely be an overall pay cut for most of them.

Even so, the only thing making them fulltime would improve is their book knowledge of the rules. Refs rarely make errors on rules. It's the split second decisions they have to make that can't be simulated in a room.

It would be like a team spending more time lifting weights and having meetings but not increasing the live scrimmaging. A QB can read a defense on a chalkboard but you can't simulate TJ Watt in your face.

I do agree though that a big problem is that Goodell does not care even a little bit about the actual product on the field. That's why they nearly outlawed practice. Today's NFL may provide exciting moments and get ratings but the football is mediocre. I bet a 9 win team from 10 years ago would be unbeatable today. They'd have 5 OL that could actually block because they were allowed to practice blocking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top