Officiating wave of the future? Woman to officiate NFL game for first time

[Armchair Quarterback]

Gumby, that is pure speculation. Ignorance of the NFL's physical criteria is not proof that it doesn't exist. Absence of proof is not proof of absence.

Also, by the same argument, women could have been willfully excluded. Given the number of female referees in existence, which do you think is more likely?

This is a memo sent out from Ron Baynes who is the Director of Recruiting NFL Officials to NFL scouts, spelling out the requirements to be a replacement official. According to this there is no physical test or even an administered physical other than a general statement of good health.

1. An Official who have recently retired from a successful career in College officiating and is still physically able to officiate at a high level of competency.

2. Lower division college officials, professional league officials and semi-professional league officials whose window of opportunity for advancement has pretty much closed but who have the ability to work higher levels but just got overlooked.

3. All applying officials should be in good health and look the part of a fit and capable official.

4. All applying officials should be in a position to give their full officiating attention to the NFL without conflict from other officiating commitments.

5. All applying officials should be coachable and be prepared to participate in comprehensive training program. The officials will be compensated for their training time.

6. All applying officials should be of impeccable character and able to pass an extensive background check as part of the acceptance to work.

7. All applying officials will be required to provide a statement from their personal physician certifying that the official is in good health and capable of handling the physically expectations that are inherent to their officiating responsibilities.

NFL Referees Lockout: Memo Spells Out Replacement Referee Plans - SBNation.com

 

[Haley]

I would challenge you to find a doctor that would not require a physical before signing a clean bill of health for someone. That would be negligence.

If you want to believe doctors are negligent in their duties in a vast conspiracy to further some feminist goals, well, knock yourself out.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

I would challenge you to find a doctor that would not require a physical before signing a clean bill of health for someone. That would be negligence.

If you want to believe doctors are negligent in their duties in a vast conspiracy to further some feminist goals, well, knock yourself out.

Settle down, I was just pointing out there is no actual physical test to pass to become a replacement referee.

 

[patchick]

No thanks.

It would be interesting to see a female ref try to break up a fight. I'm sure those 300 pound grizzlies would be easy to drag away for her. Or the drama that would ensue if she got steamrolled by some RB or lineman.

I have no interest in diving into the main cesspool of this thread. But this comment reminded me of something...

Some years ago a very sweet, maternal-type female friend of mine got a job as a bouncer in a very busy bar. Least likely job fit ever.

The bar owner said he'd discovered that when he sent a muscle-bound male bouncer to toss out a drunken male customer, the drunk took it as a challenge and tried to fight. But when he sent a mild-mannered woman to do the job, it almost always diffused the situation and the drunk left peacefully. My friend held the bouncer job for 2 years, threw out countless rowdies, and never had a single problem.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Settle down, I was just pointing out there is no actual physical test to pass to become a replacement referee.

So, to be clear, you're asserting that a physical is not a physical test?

 

[goheels22002]

You've made claims without backing them up, you've failed to answer straightforward questions about your claims and you've made things up about what I've supposedly said. You can call it what you whatever you want.

You solved the mystery! Deus Irae is Rex Ryan!

 

[Deus Irae]

I'm just on the road the thread has taken. You've made claims without backing them up, you've failed to answer straightforward questions about your claims and you've made things up about what I've supposedly said. You can call it what you whatever you want.

You're trying to equate a refusal to broaden the discussion into areas that would get the thread moved with a refusal to answer legitimate questions on topic. The first is something I've made clear I'll be doing. Regarding the second, however, I did none of that, and I answered what was asked.

 

[TyronePoole]

There is a ton of unnecessary mysogynism in this thread. You are talking like she is going to be under center tossing up the football. Honestly the outrage over this is ridiculous. I like how you assume that a woman will immediately think a hit is too hard because there aren't millions of women watching and enjoying football already with hits like that. Oh and then you mention her period, thats rich and pretty damn pathetic of you.

As for her reffing abilities. Have you ever agreed on a games reffing 100%? No? Well stop talking like she is going to single handily bring down the league and ruin the game. All refs suck in some way and I doubt she will be different.

Do please explain how the desire, expressed by some here and accompanied by well known joke material, to keep a small all-male area of life as a small all-male area of life is misogynistic. Also:

Do you consider the Girl Scouts to be misandristic?
Are women's clubs that exclude men automatically misandristic?
Are female only scholarships and grants inherently misandristic?
Is the LPGA Misandristic for not allowing men to join?
Is Title IX misandristic?

You're trying to equate a refusal to broaden the discussion into areas that would get the thread moved with a refusal to answer legitimate questions on topic. The first is something I've made clear I'll be doing. Regarding the second, however, I did none of that, and I answered what was asked.

 

[Deus Irae]

Face palm picture

What, you make my point about sticking to the one thing (Misogyny) and then post a face palm?

Maybe the internet is too much for you.

 

[TyronePoole]

What, you make my point about sticking to the one thing (Misogyny) and then post a face palm?

Maybe the internet is too much for you.

Actually it was a double face palm. See if you can spot what they're both for.

 

[Deus Irae]

Actually it was a double face palm. See if you can spot what they're both for.

1 for your piss poor argument

1 for your silliness in proving my point while trying to do the opposite.

 

[TyronePoole]

1 for your piss poor argument

1 for your silliness in proving my point while trying to do the opposite.

swing and a miss again

 

[Deus Irae]

swing and a miss again

 

[TyronePoole]

not enough facepalms left on the internet, you just used them all up

 

[Deus Irae]

not enough facepalms left on the internet, you just used them all up

Hmm.... Someone sets up the topic....

There is a ton of unnecessary mysogynism in this thread....

After discussing said topic, I note, once again, that I'm only on that topic...

That was my only point. People today can't have dialogues about serious issues because the main tactic in today's politics is to immediately demonize anyone who holds a different viewpoint. Those who demand tolerance are particularly intolerant, and I find it detestable that they can't see that they are guilty of precisely the thing that they rail against.

As for your responses on the examples, I don't think any of the examples are inherently misandristic even though they are clearly exclusionary, which was my point, but neither is the desire of men to have mens only areas of life.

Again, maybe the internet is too much for you.

 

[Wolfpack]

Hmm....





Again, maybe the internet is too much for you.

Will you two just get a room already?

 

[NSPF]

Hmm.... Someone sets up the topic....

After discussing said topic, I note, once again, that I'm only on that topic...

Again, maybe the internet is too much for you.

Deus, why don't you read the thread again carefully and see if you can figure out what actually happened. Have you considered that there was perhaps a misunderstanding along the line? That you and other posters were not on the same page? That your original post was inflammatory and poorly written despite your accurate point?

 

[chicowalker]

You're trying to equate a refusal to broaden the discussion into areas that would get the thread moved with a refusal to answer legitimate questions on topic. The first is something I've made clear I'll be doing. Regarding the second, however, I did none of that, and I answered what was asked.

When you make claims and refuse to back them up, your claims are empty.

There's no basis in reality to think that a woman who actually has trained to become a referee would have a hard time not calling unnecessary roughness penalties just because of what may be a gender skew on the issue of violence. If you're taking some random woman off the street somewhere around the globe, otoh, you'd probably be making a reasonable point.

Now, you can either refute that or continue to pretend that any attempt to do so would get this moved to the political forum.

 

[fester]

I have no interest in diving into the main cesspool of this thread. But this comment reminded me of something...

Some years ago a very sweet, maternal-type female friend of mine got a job as a bouncer in a very busy bar. Least likely job fit ever.

The bar owner said he'd discovered that when he sent a muscle-bound male bouncer to toss out a drunken male customer, the drunk took it as a challenge and tried to fight. But when he sent a mild-mannered woman to do the job, it almost always diffused the situation and the drunk left peacefully. My friend held the bouncer job for 2 years, threw out countless rowdies, and never had a single problem.

I'm a soccer ref, and I have had a similar experience.

There are several local men's teams that have an active and long-standing hatred of each other. Games between these teams have had national (MLS and minor league level) and FIFA (World Cup qualifiers/2008 Olympics etc) level referees working in the past. With an all-male, high end crew, a low-body count game was one serious injury, two ejections, and half a dozen cautions. Games that got out of control were several broken bones, four or five ejections, two season long suspensions and every field player getting at least one card.

This spring, I had the pleasure to work one of these games on the line. The center referee was an up and coming national referee candidate who can run like a gazelle and looks great in a short skirt. She got out of the game with a total of seven fouls called and one caution because a player did something very smart (the soccer equivilent of a defensive pass interference penalty when the DB stumbles on a Sluggo). No complaints from the losing team, hell they offered the entire ref crew beers as we went to the parking lot, no paperwork and no injuries. She handled the game a bit differently, as she can't pull macho, but she can control players very nicely.

Different styles can work if the goal is to get a competive, physical, fair game.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

So, to be clear, you're asserting that a physical is not a physical test?

There is no physical test administered by the NFL - running, lifting etc.

There is no medical physical administered by the NFL.

What is required is basically a note from a doctor.

And this was to respond to a poster who claimed that she had passed all physical requirements (there aren't any other than a note from a doctor, so if she got a note - she passed) and that that the league administered a physical - which they do not.

Hope you're clear now.