Peter King series on NFL officials

[Bobsyouruncle]

I suppose the refs could be paid more but they do make around $200,000 per year. Where I come from that means the "need" for a second job is really a want.

 

[bresna]

I knew about the K balls; but didnt realize there were TWO SETS of GAME BALLS (one for each team). Got to be tough to keep that straight -not intermingled.

Tom Brady & Peyton Manning headed up a group of quarterbacks to get this rule into place a few years ago. I believe the old system required brand new balls for the offense too. As you can imagine, new footballs can be slick and tough to grip.

 

[Kjmass1]

Great read. One thing I don't like and what causes confusion is how the play calling evolves from week to week. They call a RTP one way one week...the league downgrades them and then the next week they call it a new way. Frustrating to the viewer.

 

[Sciz]

Great read. One thing I don't like and what causes confusion is how the play calling evolves from week to week. They call a RTP one way one week...the league downgrades them and then the next week they call it a new way. Frustrating to the viewer.

Or like how officials decide to actually start calling field goal pushes not only mid season but mid game, after one goes uncalled earlier in the game?

 

[Kjmass1]

Or like how officials decide to actually start calling field goal pushes not only mid season but mid game, after one goes uncalled earlier in the game?

Has there been another one called since our game?

 

[neuronet]

I suppose the refs could be paid more but they do make around $200,000 per year. Where I come from that means the "need" for a second job is really a want.

If true, they are making good money where anyone is from. So about a million (more or less) a game on officiating...

Wonder what line marker holders get. They work their butts off. :singing:

 

[dales804]

Or like how officials decide to actually start calling field goal pushes not only mid season but mid game, after one goes uncalled earlier in the game?

Exactly. Do you think the ref got "downgraded" for not calling the push the Jets did on Gostowski's FG in regulation? Doubt it.

But don't worry, they are told to not "officiate for the grade" but rather for the game. Yeah, right. It's human nature to adjust how you'd call a game based on the feedback or downgrades you've received the past week(s). And, expanding on that thought, how is that even good advice? Does that mean it's okay with Blandino if a ref doesn't call something if it's going to change the flow of the game but the ref will still be downgraded because of it?

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

I think that the lesson learned is that the refs know a crap ticky tack call that can change a game but the graders don't. Like Salvatore said, calling a maybe kinda roughing the passer on a 4th and 23 when Jeenan tripped and then got tackled by a defender who couldn't tell if he'd been touched changes the game and creates a first down that wasn't deserved. It wasn't roughing the passer except by the NFL's stupidly written definition that has no bearing on the reason roughing was invented.

Ideally the punishment of a penalty should seek to recover the competitive advantage the offender gained. If a DE is held preventing a sack it should (and is penalized like there was a sack). To give a first down based on hitting a QB in a legal way but happened to be a split second after he tossed the ball is just stupid. The defender doesn't have the ability to know if he was touched or to stop his momentum on a dime. Had the defender not hit him the play's result would be the same.

I understand the NFL wants to remove the "judgement" factor but its clear the refs have better judgement of what's fair than the NFL does. Peira talked about this when Polian "emphasized" holding on WR's. He said it created a asymmetric punishment. Conclusion- Refs make calls that unfairly change the competitive balance in games and the NFL cheers them for doing so.

The downward spiral of officiating quality has more to do with the NFL's competition commitee of self serving people with a clear conflict of interest than with the officials charged with enforcing the stupidity.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Here's the final part of the series:

Game 150: The Test | The MMQB with Peter King

 

[Crononaut]

I would LOVE to know two things.

1)Asking a ref: What's the frequency of downgrading for failure to call offensive holding? Why does it look like offensive holding occurs on so many plays where it isn't called? (Seems they call it when pressures coming up the middle with a much higher frequency than from the side).

2) For everything Blandino said, did the ref that overruled the back judge in the Panthers game receive a downgrade? If he did, I might actually have some faith in this system.

All that aside, the piece is easily one of the top 5 articles I've ever read on football hands down. Thanks for the find!

 

[patchick]

Wow, what a great series. Fascinating to understand better how the officials operate. A couple thoughts:

1.

If ref team chemistry is so important, why break them up at the most critical and HIGHEST PROFILE point of the season.

Absolutely. This has always seemed strange to me, and after reading the article it's absolutely inexplicable. Come up with metrics to judge full teams of officials, and let the best well-oiled machine work the Superbowl.

2. Whenever there's a spate of bad officiating, it's followed by the inevitable outcry against the league for having "part-time officials." What does that even mean?

As others have noted, the NFL pays referees $200,000 a year. Are they also supposed to prohibit official from accepting any other employment, when realistically being a ref does NOT take up all of your time? Would the caliber of officiating really improve if the pool were limited to people willing to walk away from their other professions? And what about the NFL officials whose other jobs are as college officials -- doesn't that sound like a good thing, giving them even more live gameday experience to hone their instincts?

[EDIT] 3. Making the officials' whole professional fates hang on weekly grades, then telling the refs "just worry about the game, ignore those silly grades!" is hypocritical crap.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I thought this bit from the 3rd part was interesting with respect to how replay works:

Meanwhile, the replay assistant and replay official are gathering the television angles seen by however many cameras are working that game. When Steratore, accompanied by Waggoner, reaches the replay booth behind the Bears’ sideline, he puts his headset on and says to replay official Paul Weidner, “Pauly, you have any good angles for me to see?” Weidner does, and—here’s another ref phrase—he “dumps the bucket” of all the plays he has for Steratore. Once Steratore goes inside the curtains in the portable booth and the screen turns on, a timer begins to run: 60, 59, 58, 57 … . At zero the screen will automatically go black.

 

[dales804]

I thought this bit from the 3rd part was interesting with respect to how replay works:

I found that interesting, too. Only 60 seconds is tough to look at the replays and figure it all out (ball spot, time left, etc.).

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I believe the 60-sec limit is just to make the confirm/overturn decision and then if they overturn they are allowed to have more time (perhaps only with a much more restricted set of replays) to get location and time sorted out.

 

[BradyBranch39]

Another point of new information:

I knew about the K balls; but didnt realize there were TWO SETS of GAME BALLS (one for each team). Got to be tough to keep that straight -not intermingled.

Yeah, they have to make sure the Broncos get the round ones so that people can't notice how wobbly Peyton's throws are.