How long nfl referee lockout

As a result, the current NFL replacements refs come primarily from the lower levels of college football, where the size of the players and the speed of the game is very different from the pro ranks. Goodell is, nonetheless, confident he can force concessions from the regular refs.

The game does not stop," he insists. In the Wednesday-night season opener between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, replays showed the players illegally holding as soon as they realized the referees were doing their best to avoid controversial calls. In Sunday's Green Bay Packers-San Francisco 49ers game, the referees seemed to be overcompensating for the charge that they were reluctant to blow their whistles. They called 18 penalties and drew the anger of both team's coaches.

Some player criticism of the replacement refs has been widely reported. Robbie Gould, the place kicker for the Chicago Bears, called the fill-in refs "clueless". Quarterback Sage Rosenfels of the Minnesota Viking described them as "overmatched". Aside from complaining about the bad calls of the replacements, the players have been very restrained in their response to the lockout.

They have been unwilling to label the fill-in refs "strike breakers". The players' restraint may also reflect the fact that the regular NFL referees, most of whom hold other jobs during the week, are already getting good salaries. The first three weeks of the NFL season have been plagued by poor officiating, as inexperienced and occasionally incompetent officials have botched calls, misinterpreted rules, and even failed the simplest tasks, like counting off the yards on penalties.

But last night's Monday Night Football game in Seattle is the first close game to definitively swing on an incorrect call and may finally force the NFL to settle its labor dispute with the regular officials. So what happened, exactly? Trailing with just 8 seconds remaining , Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw a Hail Mary into the end zone in a last ditch effort to the win game.

Green Bay defensive back M. Jennings appeared to intercept the pass in a scrum of players as time expired, but Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate — who got away with offensive pass interference just before the ball arrived —managed to get one arm around the ball as the two players went to the ground.

While one referee in the end zone appeared to signal interception, another standing right next to him signaled touchdown. Even though Jennings had the greater claim to the catch, the play was ruled a score for Seattle giving them a victory. Fans, analysts, and the Green Bay players and coaches were mad. But the official reviewing the play did not see it that way, nor did he see the blatant push in the back by Tate against another Green Bay defender which, according to the NFL on Tuesday, should have been ruled pass interference and negated the winning touchdown.

The inexperienced replacement refs, most of whom have never even officiated a D-1 NCAA game, made countless disputable calls in recent weeks, the most notable coming in the league's showcase games on Sunday and Monday nights.

This time, the outcome of a game was clearly decided by an officiating error which they had every chance to correct after video review, but they allowed the call on the field to stand. Touchdown, Seahawks. Yet, in the midst of on-again, off-again negotiations with the striking regular officials, the NFL played it cool publicly even though the media, fans and players clamored for drastic action and immediate change.

Translation: The NFL and its owners are still raking hand over fist, so why should they care? After all, player strikes and lockouts in the previous two decades damaged fan appeal in professional baseball, basketball and hockey, and it is conceivable that the NFL's referee strike was injuring the product enough that a similar result was possible for America's most popular sport. And six days earlier, near the end of the first quarter of the Monday Night Football game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Denver Broncos, Atlanta was incorrectly given possession of a Knowshon Moreno fumble which Denver clearly recovered.

The Falcons kicked a field goal to extend their lead to five minutes later and they went on to win, How could they be when they are not even qualified to do the job? Whether you supported the NFL owners or the embattled referees during the lockout may come down to who your personal politics.