The NFL is exposing players to unnecessary danger.
Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak argues with an official during the first half of a NFL preseason football game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012. Like most everyone else, I didn't give it much thought when the National Football League announced replacement officials were being ushered in to take the place of the regulars who preside over the game we love.
They're all lousy, I thought. Wearing stripes at any level of the game instantaneously makes you dumb, deaf and blind. You don’t need to see or hear to keep a flag in your pocket or blow a whistle at the wrong time.
So, when the officials demanded more money to keep doing their jobs, the NFL undoubtedly realized that nearly everyone shares in my sentiments and figured, “How much worse can it get?”
Well, it turns out that the old guys are actually pretty good at their jobs and the officiating can get comically hideous.
Just look at some highlights from the first week of preseason action: There was a ball downed at the 4-yard line that was ruled a touchback in the Bills-Redskins game, a blown coin flip in the Hall of Fame game, a missed touchdown in the Eagles-Steelers game, and countless embarrassing cries of “wait” pleaded over a hot microphone during the Patriots-Saint game.
To keep the public in the dark about how bad the officiating has become, the NFL circulated a list of suggested talking points in regards to the replacements– recruited from the Arena League, small college leagues and high schools – but one look was enough for Patriots coach Bill Belichick to go off script.
“I think Mike Pereira has made his comments on the officials,” Belichick said, referencing the former vice president of officiating. “I don’t know who knows more about the NFL officiating than Mike Pereira, so we’ll leave it to him.”
Obviously, uttering Pereira's name wasn’t on the memo. And that’s because he correctly thinks that the replacements are going to endanger the integrity of the NFL.
“The integrity of the game will be compromised when you put people out on the field who have no idea of the timing, rules or management of the game or player safety,” Pereira said during a FOX Sports Radio. ”Much like not seeing the best players, you won’t be seeing the best officiating. You’re going to have people that have never officiated player safety rules at this level before and that will lead to mistakes.”
I know what you are thinking. It’s the preseason, these games don’t matter and they’ll eventually get the situation resolved and bring back the regulars. All will be good.
Maybe that’s true. But hopefully it isn’t too late by then. The NFL is faster and more violent than anything the replacements have ever presided over. What happens when someone swallows his or her whistle and Tom Brady becomes injured on an unnecessary late hit?
Something like that can't be fixed with a challenge flag.
For a guy that supposedly will stop at nothing for player safety, Roger Goodell is putting every player that takes the field in unnecessary danger over what amounts to a few hundred thousand dollars per team.
Being a hardliner is a good thing sometimes. Other times it just makes you cheap and dumb.
It’s easy to see which side of the line Goodell falls on this time.
Just ask Mike Pereira.