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NFL Refs to Return Thursday Night After Striking Tentative Deal With League

Sep. 27, 2012 12:47am Jason Howerton

NFL referees pose for a photo before an NFL football game between San Diego Chargers and the Atlanta Falcons Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 in San Diego. (Credit: AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL and the referees’ union reached a tentative contract agreement at midnight Thursday, ending an impasse that began in June when the league locked out the officials and used replacements instead.

“Our officials will be back on the field starting tomorrow night” for the Cleveland-Baltimore game, Commissioner Roger Goodell said after a day of marathon negotiations.

With Goodell at the table, the sides concluded two days of talks with the announcement of a tentative eight-year deal, which must be ratified by 51 percent of the union’s 121 members. They plan to vote Friday.

“Welcome back REFS,” Buffalo Bills running back C.J. Spiller tweeted.

The replacements worked the first three weeks of games, triggering a wave of frustration that threatened to disrupt the rest of the season. After a missed call cost the Green Bay Packers a win on a chaotic final play at Seattle on Monday night, the two sides really got serious.

In this Sept. 24, 2012, file photo, an official, rear center, signals for a touchdown by Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate, obscured, as another official, at right, signals a touchback on the controversial last play of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Seattle. The Seahawks won 14-12. The NFL and the referees' union have reached a tentative contract agreement on Wednesday, Sept. 26, ending an impasse that began in June when the league locked out the officials and used replacements instead. (Credit: AP)

“We are glad to be getting back on the field for this week’s games,” referees’ union president Scott Green said.

The union was seeking improved salaries, retirement benefits and other logistical issues for the part-time officials. The NFL has proposed a pension freeze and a higher 401(k) match, and it wants to hire 21 more officials to improve the quality of officiating. The union has fought that, fearing it could lead to a loss of jobs for some of the current officials, as well as a reduction in overall compensation.

The NFL claimed its offers have included annual pay increases that could earn an experienced official more than $200,000 annually by 2018. The NFLRA has disputed the value of the proposal, insisting it means an overall reduction in compensation.

Replacement refs aren’t new to the NFL. They worked the first week of games in 2001 before a deal was reached. But those officials came from the highest level of college football; the current replacements do not. Their ability to call fast-moving NFL games drew mounting criticism through Week 3, climaxing last weekend, when ESPN analyst Jon Gruden called their work “tragic and comical.”

Those comments came during “Monday Night Football,” with Seattle beating Green Bay 14-12 on a desperation pass into the end zone on the final play. Packers safety M.D. Jennings had both hands on the ball in the end zone, and when he fell to the ground in a scrum, both Jennings and Seahawks receiver Golden Tate had their arms on the ball.

The closest official to the play, at the back of the end zone, signaled for the clock to stop, while another official at the sideline ran in and then signaled touchdown.

The NFL said in a statement Tuesday that the touchdown pass should not have been overturned – but acknowledged Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference before the catch. The league also said there was no indisputable evidence to reverse the call made on the field.

That drew even louder howls of outrage. Some coaches, including Miami’s Joe Philbin and Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis, tried to restore some calm by instructing players not to speak publicly on the issue.

Fines against two coaches for incidents involving the replacements were handed out Wednesday.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was docked $50,000 for trying to grab an official’s arm Sunday to ask for an explanation of a call after his team lost at Baltimore. And Washington offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was tagged for $25,000 for what the league called “abuse of officials” in the Redskins’ loss to Cincinnati on Sunday. Two other coaches, Denver’s John Fox and assistant Jack Del Rio, were fined Monday for incidents involving the replacements the previous week.

“I accept the discipline and I apologize for the incident,” Belichick said.

Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots yells at an official following an offensive interference penalty against the Patriots in the first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on September 23, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Credit: Getty Images)

Players were in no mood for apologies from anyone.

“I’ll probably get in trouble for this, but you have to have competent people,” Carolina receiver Steve Smith said. “And if you’re incompetent, get them out of there.”

Added Rams quarterback Sam Bradford: “I just don’t think it’s fair to the fans, I don’t think it’s fair to us as players to go out there and have to deal with that week in and week out. I really hope that they’re as close as they say they are.”

They were. Finally.

Front page photo from Getty Images.

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Comments (34)

geo01
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 10:27am
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I love football and quality officiating…
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IN ALL FAIRNESS . . .
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I would like to thank the replacement officials.
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You did your best, HOWEVER, sometimes your best is simply not good enough. This is something we have all experienced at one time or another in our lives.
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You know THE BAD CALLS will be coming from the regular officials also.
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What will you say then . . . give us the replacements back? They ALL MAKE MISTAKES.
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It is unfortunate that these mistakes can be very costly for some teams.
.

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- americansfightingforcommonsense
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 11:10pm
  Don’t kid yourself. They were probably paid off to end the strike. “Never let a good Crisis go to waste!” Get everyone upset over a few bad calls and pay the replacements a whole bunch of money under the table and there you go; The unions get more dues and the refs get more money. This was a set up if I ever saw one. America you have been snookered once again by Obama and his Communist Union Thugs.
  
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black9897
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:16am
Thank God. No we can get back to Football and save what’s left of the season.

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EqualJustice
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:13am
Well, THAT worked out well for the Unions. They should have given the new guys a chance. IF the air traffic controllers could do, so could these guys! Come on. Who makes 70,000 per season i.e. a season with 16 games with one-week intervals. If you have substantial experience in the field, say about 10 years or more, you can earn as high as $104,000 per season. According to Darren Rovell, the renowned sports business analyst, the AVERAGE pay of NFL referees was $149,000 last season. These figures are expected to rise up to $189,000 by 2018. Holy crap! PLUS retiremnet packages?

Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/nfl-referee-salary.html

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- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:38am
  mitt romney makes 70,000 a day
  
  Report this comment
- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:41am
  at least they pay taxes
  
  Report this comment
huntinwabbits
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:32am
Unfortunately I half expect to read some of the comments I have read on this article. Lots of “who cares” and “country is worried more about football than [fill in blank].” I hope not every reader of The Blaze is so out of touch with reality. So who cares? How about almost every human being for all time. Sports and competition have been around since the beginning. The idea of competing, whether it be sports, economics, power, etc is not exactly a new thing isolated to present day generations. Many people love football, myself included. And I also know Obama sucks and actively cheer for the day he leaves as well. So for those of you crying foul because some of us can find some enjoyment in life rather than crying about politics 24/7 (while doing nothing about it), I feel sorry for you. Please work your way back to reality and come to grips with the fact that it is entirely possible to hate big government and like watching sports at the same time. So who cares? Well, for one, I do.

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lgccac
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:26am
The Green Bay game was not the first game lost because of bad officiating. It’s happened with “real” refs, too.

So who are some of the coaches going to blame when they lose a game now?

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SquidVetOhio
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:22am
Great, I get the higher paid morons back to screw my team over tonight. At least the replacement refs didn’t have the permanent memo “All calls must go against Cleveland”. The regular guys definitely know the rules better and how to make the game flow, but they also have their favorite teams and coaches such as Pittsburgh, New England and Green Bay.

As far as the guys complaining about Manning making the millions of dollars to throw a football. Peyton Manning causes millions of people to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to watch him throw a football.

We don’t get paid by what people think we deserve (thankfully), we get paid by how profitable we are. Fact of life.

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THXll38
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 7:08am
What can I say. . . the majority of Americans care more, and know more about entertainment than the actual current state of affairs that is going on locally, nationally, and global. At least I can proudly say that I know more, and have more interest educating myself about government, local, national, and geo issues that actually affect liberty, economics etc. I can care less about a bunch of guys getting paid a ridiculous salary to entertain the masses.

It has always baffled me how so many can complain about their own salary (and bitch about others making more), but think it is perfectly fine to pay someone like Peyton Manning $18,000,000.00/yr to throw a damn football.

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- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 7:33am
  but it is ok that the billionaires make unlimited right
  
  Report this comment
- THXll38
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 7:50am
  I am not against people making a lot of money. The point I was trying to make is that people care more about sports than the damn country. I am fine with anyone who makes a lot of money legit and provides goods and services that promote economic growth. Does professional sports do this? Absolutely. However, I think certain professions are much more noble and deserve higher salaries than someone that can shoot a basketball or throw a baseball/football.
  
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- jszurls
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:31am
  It is called free market capitalism. The people get to spend their money on what they decide. The NFL is a great story. It started off as a joke to most people and the players were paid practically nothing. Today they are the modern day gladiators playing to the roar of the crowds. They are no different than a company like 3M that sells office products. The best at the top of that company make high salaries. They have to make a product (or products) that people will buy in order to pay out those salaries.
  
  As far as paying attention to issues of liberty, who says that you can’t do both? Are you saying that if you are truly for protecting liberty that you have to ignore football, movies, comedy clubs, going out to dinner, etc.? Isn’t that hypocritical?
  
  I know you have good intentions. I want the government out of my life as much as possible and I assume you want the same since you talk about affecting liberty. Please just be consistent in making remarks about those who are exercising their liberty.
  
  Ask for God’s Blessings
  
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- THXll38
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:50am
  jszurls-
  
  To each their own. If you find it necessary to pay all that money to watch a game and/or buy some sporting goods — go for it. I love capitalism and I would not change it. 3M is much different than football — they actually produce goods that do something for the country — not just entertainment. If companies like 3M fell off of the earth, we would be screwed. If pro sports fell off the earth, not quite the same thing would happen. Capitalism is capitalism, but you cannot compare companies like 3M to football — that is just silly.
  
  In general, I will agree that one can do both meaning focus on current events and be entertained by sports and movies. Be rest assured though, that the majority of Americans know more about sports than basic government roles and how a bill is passed.
  
  Report this comment
Jezcruzen
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 6:53am
And all God’s children shouted, “Welcome back Refs!” Can I get an amen?
Yes, greed is a wonderful thing, isn’t it. The promise of a $200K salary for working five months a year and only 20 – 25 hours per week during those five months. Most have a second job during the off season. Grown men with million dollar contracts running a ball up and down a field officiated with fat wallet refs while most of their fans struggle to make their car payment each month. It says a lot about this country that more people were concerned about these idiots than having our ambassador, two SEALs, and another American murdered in Libya. Its just a game, folks… a ballgame! (I wonder what percentage of these “fans” could even name the three branches of their own government. But, I bet they could recite the stats of their favorite team!)

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- cloudsofwar
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 7:08am
  instead of throwing a flag they might throw cash. now all of us football fans can sleep better tonight. oh wait i don’t care. but i do like the Redskins and it gives me a break from the terrible news we continue to hear. oh well another day in Obama’s America, tax tax tax the rich. now hillary wants a global tax on the rich. she will NEVER BE POTUS and she is bitter.
  
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- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 7:35am
  but sarah palin should make millions for being a brain dead shrill hateful pig
  
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jvlag3
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 6:06am
who really cares just another group of greedy people that don’t want to contribute to their own retirement…I just hope they don’t make any bad calls…

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crusaderx9
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 6:05am
There was more outrage for the final call in the Packers-Seahawks game than for the killing of a US Ambassador, 2 Navy SEALs and another US citizen in Libya.

We the People should be looking to FIRE obama, hillary, susan rice, and jay carney… Send them packing like these replacement Refs who couldn’t handle their jobs either…

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- pudssweetie
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:36pm
  Let’s see, the killing of the Ambassador, 2 Navy Seals and 2 other Americans all happened 2-3 weeks before the Packer and Seahawk game, I also recall a lot of outrage from people after the killings and many comments made just on The Blaze alone about it. Maybe if you pulled your head out of the sand long enough you wouldn’t make stupid comments like the one you posted.
  
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Brainmuffin
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 6:00am
Don’t care.

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JACKTHETOAD
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 5:18am
I simply can’t wait until they start reffin’ games of muslim soccer played with decapitated heads. I’d serve lasagne, taco dip, maybe some fresh veggies and have everybody there chug a mug of raw eggs. The first one that hurls doesn’t get to play with me anymore. …oh yeah, I almost forgot the tomato juice.

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- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 7:37am
  definitely a toad
  
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Claytontemplar
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 5:06am
Really?I know you have to go with this, but the fact that you have to makes me sick. This country worries more about the stupid stuff than about their own souls. God help us, but maybe He should not.

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Rowgue
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 3:04am
This whole thing was one of the biggest non stories in history. The regular offiicials blow just as many calls as these guys were. Idiots were just going out of their way to be hypercritical of every call because the replacement refs were an easy scapegoat for why their team lost.

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Stoic one
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:17am
(YAWNnnn) Wow! How about that – something that captivated this country MORE than American Idol (stats provided by my wife).

OK now that this IMPORTANT issue is settled, y’all can go back to fantasy football & pro football when it is on.

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Scottt01
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:21am
Football with substitute referees was like playing strip poker with your own sister; made you not want to watch.

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- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 6:39am
  probably a bad analogy for this site , a lot on here probably date sis
  
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banjarmon
Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:03am
Who Cares??? Professional Football is no fun to watch anymore. NOW a High school game is something else!! They play their heart out without all the replays and long drawn out pauses!!!

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- PATTY HENRY
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:11am
  OR the SEC… can’t discount the SEC!!! :)
  
  The biggest looser this past week was that hot-shot Coach Pete Carroll (former USC hot shot). He ran around like a little brat knowing full well they had not won. Even SEAHAWK fans said they needed to take a bath…they love to win…but they KNEW that was no win. IF Pete Carroll had and Character at all, he would have said: “Look, the call should have been offensive interference (Tate Pushing Bush)” and was in no way a “tie goes to the winner” jump ball. He would have been a Giant among men…instead…like I said…he’s just a little arm-flapping jerk.
  
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- Rowgue
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:59am
  The call was technically correct. Simultaneous posession is awarded to the offensive player. They both had both hands on the ball the entire time, it makes no difference that the defensive player was stronger and able to pull the ball more towards his body.
  
  The only part of it that was sketchy was that they didn’t call the receiver for pass interference. But those calls are missed all the time, and it’s never called on hail marry plays with fifteen guys all fighting for the ball in the end zone. The regular officials would have made the same call.
  
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- huntinwabbits
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:49am
  actually rowgue, the rules state the receiver must have equal possession during the catch for the ‘simultaneous’ call to even come into play. A defensive player cannot catch the ball while the receiver has a finger from each hand touching it and the catch be awarded to the offense. In this play, there was not equal possession of the football. It had nothing to do with strength as you pointed out but because there was not equal possession of the football through the duration of the catch, the proper call should have been touchback.
  
  http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/image/rulebook/pdfs/11_Rule8_ForwardPass_BackPass_Fumble.pdf
  
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- Rowgue
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:57pm
  There was equal posession. They both had the ball in both hands the entire time. It wasn’t a clear catch by the defender with the offensive player then running in and grabbing onto it. They both grabbed it at the same time. Again the fact that the defender was able to pull the ball more towards himself makes zero difference and does NOT magically establish him as the sole posessor.
  
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- Rowgue
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 3:38pm
  You’re also using an outdated revision of the rules. The rule in question is unchanged, but it’s usually a good idea to cite the current rulebook.
  
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