Tellingly, the NFL statement was agnostic on the call itself, supporting only the decision not to reverse it — and once more replacement refs emerged as the talk of the nation, bringing to a boiling point three weeks of fan frustration over bad calls, no calls and a growing sense that rent-a-refs have lost control of the nation's most popular sport.
The NFL locked out its regular refs in June in a collective bargaining dispute over pay and pensions, gambling that replacement refs drawn from lower-level college leagues would not to bumble their way to become the overarching storyline of the season.
Monday night's controversy-igniting final play was replayed Tuesday on what seemed an endless TV loop: Seahawks receiver Golden Tate pushes Packers defensive back Sam Shields out of the way. Safety M. Jennings catches the pass with both hands against his chest as Tate reaches in with his. One official signals touchdown, another interception.
But ultimately refs rule they both caught it. Simultaneous possession goes to the offense. Game over, Seattle wins. The NFL's statement said Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference for that two-handed shove, which would have ended the game, but otherwise seemed to back the both-caught-it call, even as players and fans and broadcasters castigated it. And I suspect the official partners, who pay a lot of money to be associated with the NFL, are starting to make calls as well.
He was 46 years old. A year later, the NFL called. It needed him to fill in as a replacement ref. So he did, and then 11 years passed before he was tapped again.
Lawhon does not cringe at the word "scab. Lawhon admired him for that. He did the same thing during the past few months as a replacement ref. He shut out most media, ignoring the critics who said they didn't belong out there.
Off the field, Lawhon gushes about his grandkids. That's what his life is about now. On the field, he's as tough as a burnt piece of sirloin. Why did he do it? Because he was needed. And with that as their mantra, we moved forward to do the best we could for them.
There are no regrets. Many of them will look back at the summer of with a bit of romanticism. Some of them will live with consequences. Hank Zamborniak worries he might have lost a pair of friends who are regular NFL officials. I'd doubt it. Wilmoth approached the end of the lockout with a sense of peace. During the work stoppage, he and a friend were tapped by the NFL.
They both said no; they didn't want to jeopardize their chances of someday officiating in Division I, or, even better, making it to the NFL.
A few years later, Wilmoth's hopes were squashed when he was told he was too old. His friend was sick last year, dying of cancer, and in one of their last conversations, they talked about officiating and regrets. The friend said he had just one. The league let the replacements keep their three uniforms, and Wilmoth was happy about that. He's already made plans to donate one of his to a local sports bar. The other two, he'll probably keep, reminding him of three months when the food tasted better, the helmets were shinier and everything was first-class.
Skip to main content Skip to navigation. Replacement refs tell their side of the story. Green Bay Packers. Cincinnati Bengals. Los Angeles Rams. Las Vegas Raiders. Carroll: Wilson to play, Carson out for Seahawks. Seattle Seahawks. Saints rule out Kamara, Armstead vs. New Orleans Saints. Browns rule out Chubb; Johnson to start vs. Cleveland Browns. QB Newton 'still floating' over return to Panthers. Carolina Panthers.
Love ready, but Packers expecting Rodgers back. Bills TE Knox to return from broken hand vs. Buffalo Bills. Arizona Cardinals. Baltimore Ravens. Miami Dolphins. Washington's Chase Young: 'I can take the criticism Odell Beckham Jr. Why the Tennessee Titans are optimistic despite losing Derrick Henry. Tennessee Titans. Bouncing back from Cowboys losses has been a strong point for Dak Prescott. Chiefs' Chris Jones playing at 'home' thanks, in part, to Melvin Ingram. San Francisco 49ers haven't gotten much from rookie class.
Easy Fix: The NFL needs to re-address the idea of a first- and second-degree pass interference penalty. Maybe defensive holding while the ball is in the air can be a viable option. Penalty administration is fast becoming my new favorite term in sports.
The NFL won't pay the regular officials to come back to work but it will employ an extra official on the sidelines whose only job is to talk to a rules interpreter in the booth who calls down when the replacement referee messes something up.
In this case, three for the price of one isn't a great deal for anybody. The Denver Broncos were given an extra six yards after a pass interference penalty was called late in the first half on Monday night because nobody in the officiating crew could figure out the proper distance for a pass-interference call within five yards of the line of scrimmage. The Broncos scored a touchdown on that drive, clearly aided by the bonus yards they received.
The New York Jets challenged a fumble late in the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, and while video evidence showed the ball was likely knocked loose before the player was down by contact, the replacement official decided not to overturn the call.
Per the CBS announcers, the official was allowed to review the entire play, not just the fumble in question. Had he done that, there was clear visual evidence the runner's knee was down well several yards before and in advance of any potential fumble. The ball was spotted where the fumble was challenged, not where the runner was originally down.
That play didn't impact the outcome of the game, but the replay officials' lack of understanding of the rules gave Pittsburgh more favorable field position at a key moment for the Jets. The worst administration of all may have come late in the Philadelphia win over Baltimore when an official inexplicably ruled that Michael Vick had fumbled on a forward pass down near the goal line.
The call was easily overturned upon further review, giving the Eagles the ball back at the one-yard line. Michael Vick scrambled in for the game-winning touchdown a play later. While the fumble call was hilariously bad, it masked the fact that Vick was either in the grasp when he threw the ball or should have been flagged for intentional grounding as he heaved a ball to nowhere while still in the pocket, just to avoid a sack.
The Eagles should not have lost possession of the ball, but that ridiculous decision on the field completely overshadowed the fact that Philadelphia probably should have lined up at the five-yard line, not one-yard line on the next play.
Those potential penalties are "judgment" calls in NFL parlance, not clear-cut violations the normal referees would have flagged. Yes, the replacement refs made things worse, but the regular refs could use help from above, too.
Easy Fix: Let the eye in the sky break all ties. That even rhymes. When the regular referees come back, that doesn't automatically mean these issues will disappear. Allowing the league to control this from upstairs will maintain accountability—and continuity—for all games, no matter the crew.
Not only do the replacement referees seem to be calling more penalties, but the conversations between a flag being tossed and a call being made are taking forever. The deliberation process—all in an effort to get the calls right, I'm sure—have bogged the games down to a halt. In Week 2 of the NFL this year, the average length of game was , up eight minutes from opening weekend.
There was just one game in the second week of the season that was completed in under three hours, with 10 of the 16 contests lasting longer than minutes. But when it's all said and done, you have to step on that field and you cannot be bullied. In Week 2, Broncos head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio verbally abused the replacement referees whose inability to control the game led to a fiasco of a first quarter on a nationally televised game.
One of the most visible instances occurred Sunday night when Patriots head coach Bill Belichick physically grabbed a referee after a controversial field goal call. Another criticism of the replacement referees is their potential to be biased on the field. How can referees be expected to be objective when they are officiating games where their idol is starting at quarterback?
In a world where you control the success of your favorite NFL football team, it is not impossible to imagine that the thought of helping your team to victory would not cross your mind.
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