The Officials in the NFL have taken some real heat lately.

There was the "blown call" in the Niner / Giant Game (Jim Fassel received a call from the League Office Stating such) and a very questionable running into the kicker penalty at the end of the Steeler / Titan Game. Also during the Steeler / Titan Game the officials did not know what was Challengeable or Not.

In Baseball, Umpiring is a FULL Time Profession. I'm not saying these men don't have anything else "on the side" but they are paid as FULL TIME Employees and get paid well at least the umpires who make it to the "show".

NFL Football Officials are Part Time and IMO with all that money in the NFL one would think that the Commissioner's Office would take a good look at the officiating and make NFL Officials a FULL TIME Position with a certain amount of schooling.

Perhaps with Full Time Officials with more training there wouldn't be a need for instant replay.

Being an Umpire myself, I sympathize with the officials in that the Giants have no-one but themselves to blame for blowing a 24 point lead. The Steeler / Titan call is a tough one to swallow especially at the professional level.

What's your view? Should NFL Officials be FULL TIME?

Pete Booth

Full-time means... ??
 

This is always a band-wagon cry after "controversial" calls. For once I'd like someone to take that statement and explain to me what they're actually proposing.

I don't think the mistakes are because officials aren't full time. And there's already more than a "certain amount of schooling". What MORE can they be doing?

Officiating mistakes are going to happen. You're going to tell me that MLB umpires are always correct? Officials in the other sports are full-time primarily because of the amount of games played.

I think the technology of replay from umpteen angles makes us notice things that were never considered in years past. There is no way the officials can sell a close call like we would do in a high school game.

Oh- and the running into the kicker call was textbook by the rules. And Cowher knows it.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by PeteBooth
[B]
"...a very questionable running into the kicker penalty at the end of the Steeler / Titan Game..."

What part of the running into the kicker rule do you not understand that makes you even question that call?

"...Also during the Steeler / Titan Game the officials did not know what was Challengeable or Not..."

I watched the game. I did not see the officials review an unchallengeable play! Are you basing this analysis of yours stictley on the comments of the pissed off coaches locker room comments? Or do you have some insider information?

"What's your view? Should NFL Officials be FULL TIME?"

No!




[Edited by KWH on Jan 14th, 2003 at 12:57 AM]

The stupidity of having a player report as eligible BEFORE THE GAME is probably the stupidest rule I've ever heard. That needs to be eliminated.

There was nothing wrong with the call in the Steelers game. It's a judgment call by the referee, who I personally agreed with.

MLB Umpires work 6-7 games per week, for all but 4 months of the year. They have to be full time. I don't see making NFL officials full time that big of an advantage. The truth is that the players are faster, stronger, and quicker than they have ever been. That makes it a difficult job. I think they are the best at what they do. THere's nobody soitting at home who could do the job any better.

Let's say Blum doesn't throw the running into the kicker. The Titan sideline would go ballistic screaming for the call. If the Steelers then go down the field and win, it's Fisher who's crying about how they were robbed by a critical <i>non-call</i>.

The national media would then call for full time officials. No mater what happens at that point, nobody is happy - but that's just the way life is.

If what we're going for here is for everyone to agree on all these calls, let's stop now because we'll never get there.

How does everyone feel about the so-called full timers? I don't see any stories in the media about how everyone in MLB is just pleased as punch with the strike zone and with their umpiring in general. Ask Mark Cuban about the full time NBA refs. And the piece de resistance, the NHL - hockey fans love them. But they're full timers! They must be the best!

Coaches should take a 4 week course along with the Announcers on the rules.

Look at Matt Millen he even said its a hard job when he umpired a couple pre season games.

I agree the giants game was a bad no call, but maybe Jim Fassell could have gotten to the Officials and remind them that he was an eligible receiver on that play. The flag could have come late (very late) but at least they may have gotten the call right with a reminder. Fassell needs to blame himself.

As for Bill Cohwer, stop crying Bill it was a good call and the right call.

Ron Blum, did it right.
 

We on this board normally support officials. The main concern of the naysayers is GET IT RIGHT.

Well based on that statement, Ron Blum did it right and now he is getting blasted for that too. On the challenge he stated he felt it was not challengable but would look into it further with the replay official upstairs.

Why in the hell are people still saying he is incompetent for not knowing what is challengable and what is not. The rule is open to intrepretation like many of our rules and most of what each and everyone of us works and lives by. He felt it was not challengable but was willing to make sure. Commend him for being willing to check and GET IT RIGHT.

My take on the judgement calls, they are just that, decisions the official on site has to make spur of the moment with his knowledge of the rules and their applicability. Well done, crews.

Shawn

I hear the "full-time" argument a lot, but I just don't think it would lead to much improvement.

The only way you get better at officiating is by seeing more snaps, and by the time you get to the NFL, you've seen plenty of those. The officials already study film and the rules during the week, and the scrutiny officials have been under in the NFL postseason have nothing to do with knowledge of the rules; most complaints I've heard have been for judgment calls, which aren't going to change with more study.

Also, it might be hard to get/keep officials if they went full time. NFL officials are already under a lot of scrutiny and can be out of a job quickly if they don't rank well. The lack of job security would certainly make anyone think twice about quitting their real job to officiate full time. Heck, you might be hard-pressed to find someone who *wants* to officiate full-time. I enjoy officating, but I can't imagine doing it or working on it every day; it's fun, but not as rewarding to me as a real career.

I am a professional with relatively high yearly earnings. I make 20 times more at my profession each year than I do officiating HS and college baseball and football. But on any given day, I'd rather be officiating a game than working at my profession. While I enjoy baseball, football is my passion and I find the rules much more difficult and the mechanics more demanding. Knowing that football officiating is a second career is an incentive to improve and advance. I hope that aspect never changes. In my opinion, the officials in professional and college football are just as good as their counterparts in professional and college baseball, even though officiating is not their main careers.

As for the missed PI call in Giants-Niners game, we all know how difficult it is to officiate a broken play. The deep officials had to bust down to the goal line to cover the receivers, and the line officials had neutral-zone responsibilities, then had to bust downfield when the ball crossed the neutral zone. It's not hard to see how no one got a good look at the defender's take-down. The mechanics changes the front office made the next day should avoid future like no-calls. The entire crew likely got dinged out of the other playoff games, and their entire season is tainted. While football officiating is not a full-time avocation, it certainly is a demanding one!

I do not think full time would make much of a difference. Judgement calls will always be there but I do think at the end of a close game where a call could determine the outcome of a game, it should be reviewed before calling the game. My main example is the Giants game. The player did what he was supposed to and that is report eligible. The official "thought" he was ineligible. With a review by the officials they would have determined him as eligible and the Giants would have had another opportunity. In reality, that call may cost players and coaches their jobs and it's a call that could have been avoided.

With the speed of the game I think the NFL officials do one heck of a job. There are some awfully good calls made but unfortunately good calls do not get the press that bad ones do.

Not to change the subject too much, but does anyone besides me think that although the play in the Giants/49ers game was definitely too close to call uncatchable, for the purposes of not throwing a DPI flag for a reason, rather than by default, but that there was absolutely no chance that the receiver would have caught the pass, interference or not? Understandibly, it would still have to be called, but karmically, it seems like the correct end result.

I am not a fan of either team, so I think that I am fairly unbiased, and the player seemed to get tripped up on the turf or his own feet, as he turned, and eventually overturned, past the area where the pass landed, BEFORE he was contacted by the defender. The contact LOOKED worse than it was, because the defender grabbed his collar very clearly, but with the benefit of slow motion and a better angle, it looked as if the offensive player would have fallen on his back on his own, unable to react back towards the ball with any chance to make a catch, let alone a catch that he could have advanced to the goal line.


As for the Titans/Steelers game, I had no problem with the running into the kicker call, it had to be done, and Nedney DID do a great acting job. It even looked convincing enough for me in slow motion. However, as much as I appreciate the effort to get it right, I do think that a playoff white hat in the NFL should know if a play is eligible to be reviewed. I thought it looked and sounded bad when he sort of stuttered and stammered through the explanation of what he was doing, and why he had to call upstairs for help.


[Edited by 4 Sport Official on Jan 14th, 2003 at 04:09 PM]

It was a bad call because it was clearly a questionable call and it was HUGE in deciding the outcome of the game.

Here is the rule to support my statement...NFHS Rule 9-4-4c.

A defensive player shall neither run into the kicker nor holder, which is contact that displaces the kicker or holder without roughing; nor block, tackle or charge into the kicker of a scrimmage kick, or the place-kick holder, other than when:

c. Contact is slight and is partially caused by movement of the kicker.

I applaud the honesty of the official in the Pit-Ten game.

Not sure how many exceptions to the NFL rule book and the additional stuff regarding what is and isn't reviewable, but HE GOT IT RIGHT!

If he didn't, the rest of the world would have been complaining "why didn't he ask for help if he didn't know?"

Derock, questionable to us. IN HIS JUDGEMENT, he saw a foul. You can disagree because it was a judgement call (and you've seen multiple replays from many angles). It (like every call and non-call) had an effect on the game, but not as much as the previous 60+ plays and coaching decisions.

Big D, are you crossing over to the other side???? You are beginning to sound like a fan!