Now, there's no doubt that Easley is not ready for NFL work. But Richens crossed the line by trashing him to a reporter. He had no business involving the press about that guy and piling on.
Look, I don't think they should be there either. The NFL should pay the union guys and stop being cheap. But the public condemnation and harrassment of these replacements should cease. Being critical is one thing; being a butthole about it is entirely another.
I wouldn't go to Richins's camp if it were free and he paid for travel and expenses.
Quote:
"He wasn't deemed good enough to become a Division I college official this summer, according to Karl Richins and his staff of Division I college officials at Stars and Stripes Academy for Football Officials in Salt Lake City.
"I got to know Lance at a June academy I worked at in Reno and when he came to my academy in July," Richins said. "He's a very polite, good Christian gentleman, a good father to his son, Daniel, who was at my academy as well.
"But was Lance ready to work at the NFL level? Absolutely not."
Richins' staff determined that Easley, vice president of small business banking at Bank of America in Santa Maria, Calif., wasn't ready for Division I, the highest level of college officiating, never mind the much faster NFL game.
Richins said the biggest mistake Easley made was agreeing to become a replacement official in the first place. He said Easley has never officiated at a level higher than Division III and never voiced a desire to reach the NFL.
"I'm getting e-mails saying, 'Boy, you must be proud,'" Richins told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. "This is not what we intended for our officiating students to do. We train officials to work at the Division I level.
"At no time do we say, 'We can train you for the NFL.' After three days at our academy, Lance was determined by our staff not to be ready for Division I officiating."
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Replacement ref who called TD wasn't ready for Div. I, tutor says ? USATODAY.com