The NFL SHOULD be Embarrassed
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
I waited all summer long for this. I was SO pumped up for my teams’ NFL Draft (the beloved Cincinnati Bengals). Since April, I’ve been reading NFL blogs with such intensity as if the season had already begun. Not ONLY was I excited about my team, but I was ready for the NFL to redeem itself after the ugly lockout of last season. The NFL surely pissed off its fans as the lockout dragged on and on.
I had been so engrossed over the excitement of which new Bengals jersey to get that I did not even realize that the NFL referees were in a lockout battle of their own. I don’t believe that anybody took it seriously. Kinda like the NHL lockout- who cares? Anyways, my point is that because of the lockout of officials, games are now being officiated by replacements! REPLACEMENTS! Now this isn’t some feel good story like Falco (of Keanu Reeves fame). There is no hero in this. They have completely affected the integrity of the game, as the first two weeks of the season have been marred by controversy. The referees appear to be completely over-matched (many have never officiated ANY games of this magnitude, with this level of athleticism and speed.) The equivalent of this would be you or I being forced into playing starting quarterback for our favorite NFL team next Sunday, without any prior experience. I know this seems drastic, but its the truth. As much as we complain about our team’s or the officiating, there is NO WAY that we could go out there and do their jobs. The NFL should recognize this.
Now, what is most upsetting is that the NFL doesn’t seem to sense the urgency in fixing the current situation. After all, its not just the questionable penalties; it’s the missed calls, issues with the interpretation and understanding the rules, obvious intimidation of coaches and players that result in influenced calls, and last but not least, the indecision that is also leading to player safety issues. These refs look like deers in headlights in front of tens of thousands of fans. I can’t blame them.
Tonight”s battle between the Broncos-Falcons was no different. It’s such a shame that after 60 minutes of football, the #1 topic trending is the poor officiating. The NFL should be EMBARRASSED for the product that is being produced on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays this season. Unfortunately, because they know that die-hard football fans will watch the games, and the players will continue to play for their paychecks (no matter what), there is no sense of urgency. Hopefully, they get this mess straightened out for week #3 because the integrity of this game is being questioned heavily right now. Share this post, and help me start the FIND THE REAL REFS movement!