Fundamentals of Journalism Blog

The people who wear the black and white stripped shirts on game days might as well be wearing a target on their back. As soon as a fan, player, or coach thinks they made a bad call, the referee is automatically looked at as the bad person.

In May, the National Football League referees’ contracts came to an end the NFL found themselves in trouble because it was apparent the league and the referees were not going to come to an agreement anytime soon.  In fact, that agreement wasn’t made until the last few days of September after the season had already started.  Because the season still had to go on without the regular referees, the NFL began looking for replacement refs across the country.  The replacement referees who filled in came from various jobs such as teachers, real estate agents, lawyers, vice presidents of banks, youth referees, and many college referees.

On Monday night, September 24^th, the Green Bay Packers played the Seattle Seahawks when the replacement referees made a call that has been talked about now for weeks.  The call will go down as one of the most controversial calls in the history of the NFL.  As time expired off the clock, quarterback Russell Wilson threw a Hail Marry and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings and Seahawk receiver Golden Tate went up and both came down with the ball.  One referee ruled the play as an interception as the other ref ruled it a touchdown.  The rest of Monday night and most of Tuesday was filled with people’s thoughts across the country.  Rich Eisen, an NFL analyst, went to Twitter after the game saying, “We wondered when the replacement refs would cost a team a game. I believe we just saw one.”

After the Packers Seahawks game, talk began maybe this was what the NFL and the referees needed to get the situation figured out.  Fortunately, they did.  By Thursday night September 27th, the regular referees were welcomed with a standing ovation as they made their way on the field to ref the Browns and Ravens game.

It wasn’t an easy process to figure out how to get the referees back.  Of course most of the controversy dealt with money.  According to the article, “Refs due back Thursday night,” it stated, “The tentative pact calls for their salaries to increase from an average of $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013, rising to $205,000 by 2019.”  The article went on to say, “Retirement benefits will be provided for new hires and for all officials beginning in 2017 through a defined contribution arrangement.”  As of next season, the league has the option of being able to hire referees to work all year compared to right now only working part time.

With all the scrutiny on “how bad the replacement refs were,” it brings up a good question that wasn’t talked about much.  Obviously, there were differences between the regular refs and the replacements but what were they exactly?  And what exactly makes a regular ref a good ref?

Laurens-Marathon’s Mike Ehn, the head high school football coach, the athletic director, and a referee himself said, “I think the real referees have the experience and knowledge and that is why they were hired. Because they are best at what they do.” Ehn went on to say, “A good referee is someone who hustles to get into position, calls a fair game, and is not noticed in the game.  They allow the players to decide the outcome of the game.”

Someone else who might not have quite the experience as Mike Ehn has had with referees but has been watching football since he could hold his head up, Luke Arnts, a die hard Minnesota Vikings fan says, “The regular referees are better because they have years upon years of experience. They have also dealt with and seen every odd situation that has appeared in the game.” Arnts thoughts on what makes a good referee were, “They make decisions quickly without hesitation.  Like I said before, a good ref needs experience in the leagues before he has seen and made all the calls.”

A lot of comparing was been done between the replacement and regular officials.  Fans were used to the way the regular referees called the game.   Many fans seemed to think the replacement refs failed but maybe that wasn’t the case.

Luke Arnts said, “I don’t believe the replacements failed. They did the best job they knew how given the circumstances they were thrown into.  Yes, they made mistakes, but the regulars have made mistakes since coming back too.”

Mike Ehn agreed with Arnts saying, “I don’t think the replacement refs failed. They were put into a situation where they did not have the experience and the speed of the game was just too fast for them.”

No matter if the person who calls a game is a replacement or regular referees, all of them are human.  Not a single refereeing squad has ever had a perfect game.  At the end of the day, they are all people. It’s not the people in the stripped shirts fault for the outcome of the game. Teams win some and lose some and then life goes on.