You realize full-time officials would be even more under the NFL's thumb, right?

QuantumMechanic · Dec 1, 2015

With the drumbeat of people (here and elsewhere) calling for full-time officials, it occurred to me that full-time officials would be much more beholden to the League Office and susceptible to being influenced.

Current officials all are either retired or have outside jobs which generally pay them rather more than they make officiating. Sure, the officiating money is a nice (and non-trivial) bonus, but they don't need it to live on.

Full-time officials would need that money because it'd be their only job.

Here's something Bedard says about the current refs:

The feedback from the officiating community is that the evaluation system the NFL uses outdated, cumbersome, has officials worried about their grades instead of officiating the game

And remember, those are guys who don't need the ref job to live.

So you tell me which group of officials is more likely to say "How high?" when the League Office says (or signals) "Jump!"

Color me suspicious of and completely against full-time officials until the current NFL regime is gibbeted.

Galeb · Dec 1, 2015

QuantumMechanic said:
With the drumbeat of people (here and elsewhere) calling for full-time officials, it occurred to me that full-time officials would be much more beholden to the League Office and susceptible to being influenced.

Current officials all are either retired or have outside jobs which generally pay them rather more than they make officiating. Sure, the officiating money is a nice (and non-trivial) bonus, but they don't need it to live on.

Full-time officials would need that money because it'd be their only job.

Here's something Bedard says about the current refs:

And remember, those are guys who don't need the ref job to live.

So you tell me which group of officials is more likely to say "How high?" when the League Office says (or signals) "Jump!"

Color me suspicious of and completely against full-time officials until the current NFL regime is gibbeted.

That is the one drawback of fulltime officials. That said, it's a huge drawback. Considering how much they already pay the part time officials it would be pretty easy to solve the problem by throwing money at it. Guaranteed contracts and a year severance if they're canned would be a good place to start. Heavy incentives for good performance should be part of the contract with an "independent" crew judging their performance.

memento · Dec 1, 2015

The argument is that referees would have less of an excuse to not know the rules if they were full-time employees. I suspect the real issue is the lack of experienced referees left. I've heard most referees this year have been around for two years or less. The calls this year have been terrible, for whatever reason.

skspikex2 · Dec 1, 2015

To me that just part of the many problems, seeing 60+ years old trying to run with some of the fastest athletes can be downright comical, not to mention the weather inclement.

Jackson 2 · Dec 1, 2015

Not if they organized

Jackson 2 · Dec 1, 2015

skspikex2 said:
To me that just part of the many problems, seeing 60+ years old trying to run with some of the fastest athletes can be downright comical, not to mention the weather inclement.

WEEI reported today that the current average age is 51. Hochuli will be 65 on December 25.

PatsFanSince74 · Dec 1, 2015

Time to think out of the box.
Full time officials wouldn't have to report solely to the League Office. They could be jointly employed by the League and the NFLPA, with a neutral third party engaged in some manner if necessary.

MitchKumstein · Dec 1, 2015

PatsFanSince74 said:
Time to think out of the box.
Full time officials wouldn't have to report solely to the League Office. They could be jointly employed by the League and the NFLPA, with a neutral third party engaged in some manner if necessary.

That idea makes way too much sense for goodell to ever let it happen.

Bobsyouruncle · Dec 1, 2015

PatsFanSince74 said:
Time to think out of the box.
Full time officials wouldn't have to report solely to the League Office. They could be jointly employed by the League and the NFLPA, with a neutral third party engaged in some manner if necessary.

Why would the players want to pay the refs salary when they currently pay nothing? It's possible, but if I were a player I wouldn't want to do it.

SVN · Dec 1, 2015

If the jackasses had listened to BB's idea of challenging every play some of this couldve been negated.

patchick · Dec 1, 2015

For a lot of the NFL's part-time refs, their "day job" is officiating at other levels, giving them invaluable additional experience. Just as with players, there's no substitute for live action to sharpen your skills.

nabwong · Dec 1, 2015

There's no system that is gonna be totally impartial. Why? Because there's huge sums of money involved. Someone is gonna want the bigger slice of the pie and is gonna dirty the pool.

Back in the old days, judges were a special breed of people trained outside the influences of political parties. Kinda like Jedi Knights but for real. Now, they are political appointees. Why? Money.

If someone is impartial, the nfl is gonna get rid of them because the scariest people are the ones that can't be bought. I.e belichick

Bobsyouruncle · Dec 1, 2015

I think QM is right, making them full time would make them NFL dependent.

I don't know what they're supposed to do either. They are part time because they work 17 weeks, once per week. That's not the same as the NBA and MLB. They live all over the country also.

So you fly them in and put them in a room for 8 hours a day, four days a week and do what?

I've heard study, but they will read the rule book cover to cover three times day one. They're just not going to stare at a book 40 hours a week. So basically making them full time comes down to banning them from doing other jobs without having something for them to do. I don't think it really addresses the problem.

ThatllMoveTheChains!!! · Dec 1, 2015

MitchKumstein said:
That idea makes way too much sense for goodell to ever let it happen.

Which gets to the real solution. Fire the Goodell, and clean house. I get the distinct feeling that most of these issues clear up with competent leadership.

QuantumMechanic · Dec 2, 2015

ThatllMoveTheChains!!! said:
Which gets to the real solution. Fire the Goodell, and clean house. I get the distinct feeling that most of these issues clear up with competent leadership.

Like I said -- I'm against full-time refs until the current regime is gibbeted.

Skree · Dec 2, 2015

I read recently that the refs themselves turned down the idea of full time officiating. The league came to them with the concept and they said 'No'.

I think they should simplify the rule book. There's too many things to watch out for on the field and they'll inevitably miss something every play.

Additionally, I think the owners love the heat on the refs and Goodell. Takes it off of them, and never forget that they are the ones running this clown show.

PatsFanSince74 · Dec 2, 2015

Bobsyouruncle said:
Why would the players want to pay the refs salary when they currently pay nothing? It's possible, but if I were a player I wouldn't want to do it.

One word. Power.
If the Owners are paying everything, they control everything.
The Players need to have the officials working for them as well. There will be a cost associated with that.

Deus Irae · Dec 2, 2015

Really, unless you believe that the NFL is rigging games,

It's not about full time/part time.
It's not about old/young.
It's about competent/incompetent.

PatsWickedPissah · Dec 2, 2015

Deus Irae said:
Really, unless you believe that the NFL is rigging games,

It's not about full time/part time.
It's not about old/young.
It's about competent/incompetent.

That is the first order effect.
However, I do not think it irrational to postulate that the Refs' grading system might well be biased in several ways such as rewarding those calling OPI on Gronk. No direct "order" need be given, just repeated training film illustrations mostly featuring one prominent player.

Deus Irae · Dec 2, 2015

PatsWickedPissah said:
That is the first order effect.
However, I do not think it irrational to postulate that the Refs' grading system might well be biased in several ways such as rewarding those calling OPI on Gronk. No direct "order" need be given, just repeated training film illustrations mostly featuring one prominent player.

Oh, I think it's clear that the officiating has become NBA like. I just think that's because of incompetence combined with, shall we say, league 'sensibilities', and not because people who have about 20 'work days' per year aren't full time hires.

You realize full-time officials would be even more under the NFL's thumb, right?

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