Most people would at least contemplate trampling their own family members to earn almost $200,000 in addition to their full-time jobs.
Instead of agreeing to this, NFL officials elected to be locked out by the league.
The results have, at times, been both comical and horrifying.
The Green Bay Packers were robbed of a victory Monday when replacement officials made two separate mistakes on the final play of the game against the Seattle Seahawks.
None of the officials threw a flag on an egregious pass interference infraction that allowed Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate to “catch” the winning touchdown with no time left on the clock. At that point, one official signaled the proper call, an interception, and the other – standing five feet away – got it wrong and signaled that Tate had hauled in the Seahawks’ Hail Mary heave.
In a game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, another substitute official inexplicably threw his hat onto the field, tripping Cowboys wide receiver Kevin Ogletree in the end zone.
Granted a referee is supposed to throw their hat if a receiver goes out of bounds, but they are not supposed to throw it under the feet of the receiver – especially if said receiver never actually stepped out of bounds.
The replacement referees, however, aren’t the ones who should be taking the blame. People should really be focused on the parties that are to blame for the substitute officials being on the field in the first place.
The NFL and the referees union are the ones at fault for these debacles.
Under the NFL’s current offer, officials would have been given a pay increase from about $150,000 per year to $189,000 per year , but they would have been switched from a guaranteed pension to a 401(k) retirement plan.
The merits of the two sides’ positions have been debated for months now, but really, who cares?
The people that provide all of the money that the two sides are arguing over, namely the fans, are the ones getting screwed.
All the average NFL fan wants is to sit back on Sundays with their beverage of choice, and enjoy the game they love. It’s hard to accomplish that simple goal when almost every game is shrouded in controversy and horribly blown calls.
The officials and the NFL clearly don’t care enough to compromise and give the fans a quality product.
Why should they? The NFL is still making their money, and the referees know that eventually they’ll get paid because of the terrible job their replacements are doing. The only ones really suffering are the fans.
Well guess what fans? We are the ones that ultimately control the NFL’s revenue stream. If they won’t give us a quality product, then why should we give them our hard earned dollars?
If we don’t tune in, buy tickets, or purchase NFL licensed goods, they won’t have any money to argue about. They will be forced to act like grown-ups and negotiate a reasonable deal.
The power is in our hands but it won’t be easy to exercise it.
Until this labor dispute ends and the real referees are back on the field, we must close ranks and remind those in authority of where all their money comes from in the first place.
So for now, stop buying jerseys, don’t watch the games, and be sure to bombard the NFL offices with your complaints.
If the league won’t stand up for the integrity of the game then the fans must.