Dear Roger:
Ok, you've had your fun. This little joke you've played on NFL fans has been quite funny, really. I am sure you and your advisers have sat around the offices guffawing on this for months. Wait, wait, wait. (laughter) will put in guys from division II and III, pay them like a third of what the normal guys get. Everyone will lose their mind. It'll be great. We can even find guys that have been fired from the LFL and put them out there. Sports radio knuckleheads will freak! (more laughter)
So, it's been a big laugh, to be sure, but it's time to get back to the real business of football. It's week four already, so the fooling around has to stop. We've watched the replacement guys try to keep up, and it's been entertaining to watch, no doubt. But now you're messing with the biggest sport in the country. Billions of dollars. I know I don't have to tell you about money, because you clearly are all about it. You've shown that the bottom line is indeed the bottom line. But you're walking a very fine line of turning this game into an "Any Given Sunday" caricature of it's former greatness. Enough.
Last night's ending to the Green Bay Packers / Seattle Seahawks showed in stark relief the replacements are simply incompetent. They did not confer, and the did not agree on the call, as we saw. It was a real mess. You're going to roll this circus out another week? Please, come to your senses, man.
It's very clear to me that you are worried about a slew of lawsuits going forward if a precedent is set with the real referees. It's also clear that your cutting your nose off to spite your face. Please put the official NFL referees back on the job this week, before someone re-enacts the opening scene from "The Last Boy Scout". Deal with the minor lawsuits quietly, off the front pages, and lets get back to football. You're quickly destroying the work of greats like Pete Rozelle and others who came before you.
Sincerely,
The fans
