Pay Up NFL!

NFL

That’s right.  Pony up.  Swallow the pill. Suck it up. Pay the piper.  Your replacement referee experiment needs to end.

The squabble between the referee union and the NFL has gone on two weeks too far.  As if the embarrassment in the preseason were not enough, the NFL decided to stick with its replacement referee contingency plan for games that really matter.  Bad idea.  In just a couple of weeks these refs have proved what we all feared.  They are not up to the task.  They have fumbled, bumbled, and stumbled their way.  Whether it has been terrible pass interference calls, missed obvious fouls, incorrect out-of-bounds verdicts, misinterpretations of the rules, or overall inability to control the game, it has been a disaster. 

I was watching a Pac-12 game (go Bruins!) and was relieved to see officials executing their work competently.  C’mon, Pac-12!  These zebras are garbage compared to the NFL studs.  But here I was, Saturday football, and pining over my Sundays of the past knowing that the very next day, I would be witnessing inferiority in the superior game. Normally you do not notice when things run smoothly, but juxtaposing the NFL games with the college ones highlighted the inadequacies of these substitutes.

I’m not here to blame the new guys.  Would you do any better?  Of course not, because you aren’t prepared with enough experience and training, and neither are these replacements.  To expect them to fill in for a high-profile job in which they are overmatched is a no-win scenario.  It’s only a matter of time before they blow a call that costs a game and maybe a season.  Unacceptable.

So why are the regular guys, you know, the pros sidelined?  Well, we do not know the details of why the refs are locked out.  Unfortunately, union negotiations in the NFL lack public transparency. How convenient.  What we do understand is that the discussion is about pay and pensions.  Surprise, surprise!  If it’s really about money, then the NFL has got to bite the bullet.  Who cares how much it is.  The league can afford it.  The industry makes billions, yes billions, of dollars in a single year.  It is asinine to continue on this path.  The NFL’s reputation and product are suffering, much more valuable assets than the negligible money that might be saved in negotiations.

It is distressing to see Hall of Famer and first-rate analyst Steve Young’s revelations on the NFL’s handling of the replacement situation: “If they cared, they wouldn’t do it.” The league probably believes that its business will not suffer because of the inevitable popularity of the sport.  This may seem true on the surface, but I’m hoping the NFL decides the negative consequences are not worth it.  Is the integrity of the sport worth preserving?  The legacy of the most powerful American game could be damaged.  The history books marred with an asterisk the same way baseball will sadly be remembered for many years.  What about the possibility of potential lawsuits regarding the mismanagement of player safety costing the NFL’s pocketbooks far more than the current refs’ demands?   Losing public creditability in every future negotiation and decision cannot be a desirable result either.  And last, other, unforeseeable, far-reaching implications should be considered too.  In short, why risk that well-oiled machine you presently have?

So, National Football League, step up to the plate and do what you do best: take care of business. Cough up the dough and sustain your empire.