Time for new referee's in the NFL

I'm watching the jag's vs. Broncos and I getting really sick of these awful call's from the ref's. This is by far the most one-sided calling of a game. If I was at this game, I would have done anything to get on that field and slug that ref. I swear that ever since that screwed up call during the broncos and chargers game. The ref's have been trying insanely hard to screw the broncos with some unbelievable calls.

So what have you guys been seeing in your local games from the ref's?
:mad:

the NFL by far has the worst referee setup. these guys are sometimes reffing H.S. and college games on saturday and NFL games on sunday because the NFL ref only makes a part time salary. there is not real true setup for referees in the NFL and that's how the commish likes it. this keeps them from having any real power.

sure there is a head of officials and these guys have earned their right to coach but they do not have the setup like other pro leagues have.

the main issue is the NFL is a contractor league. it's setup so you bring your "A" game every week or they just don't hire you again. the owners have the real power and they don't want another contender in the deals they have going on. only a strike will change things and i doubt that will happen simply because they keep the referee's so spread out that they just don't talk often enough. plus the head of rules is in the back pocket of the commish so there isn't any stability there.

EDIT: i just found this article which pretty much describes what i'm saying on why it's hard for the reffs and how little power they have all while being in a high stress job. i know it's not Iraq or wall street high stress but if you blow a call it's high stress because you know there are millions calling you a clown.

here is a great article on how the NFL referee system works. the reffs are fighting back but it's not really making any ground.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/clayton_john/1248329.html

FOR THOSE WHO ARE LINK INCLINED

A year ago, the NFL Referees Association hired an outside accounting firm to determine if their part-time jobs had full-time considerations.

The firm determined that the job is more involved than just showing up at games on Sundays and officiating for three hours. Ed Hochuli, who heads the NFLRA, goes through a typical NFL week.

"It varies a little bit from official to official, depending upon the position," Hochuli said. "I'm a referee and spend about 15 hours a week reviewing video tape. I look at game tapes which includes the television view, the sideline view and the end zone vew from teams. I have to break that down. I get position tapes. For example, the referees will get referee's tapes that show intentional grounding, offensive holding, illegal hits to the quarterback, chop blocks and things like that."

A lawyer by trade, Hochuli says he spends maybe two hours in the morning and four hours at night doing things related to officiating from Monday to Friday. "All of the officials are looking at the same tapes, seeing calls, because it's a narrow line between what's legal and what's illegal," he said.

Hochuli said he spends a couple of hours a week doing administrative things. He must file reports to the league. He has to write letters on behalf of the league. All are part of his job as a referee.

"Each official has to take a written test every week during the season and every month in the offseason," Hochuli said. "I personally spent an hour a day studying rules. Rules in the NFL are extremely complicated. Rules enforcement in the NFL is extremely complicated. We have a case book that has 1,000 plays. I find in order to stay on top of the rules, I read them all the time."

Most officials on all levels -- high school, college and pros -- read case books to stay current on rules.

“ Rules in the NFL are extremely complicated. Rules enforcement in the NFL is extremely complicated. We have a case book that has 1,000 plays. I find in order to stay on top of the rules, I read them all the time. ”
— Ed Hochuli, head of NFL Referees Association

"I spent a lot of time on the phone," Hochuli said. "I have to talk to supervisors three to five times a week involving the grading process of officials. Members of the crew spend a lot of time talking to each other during the week. I'll probably talk to the six other members of my crew at least two or three times during the week to talk about rules interpretation."

Overall, that totals about 30 hours a week.

"I consider my conditioning part of the job," Hochuli said. "I have to be fit and have to move around. I consider my appearance important. I should look like an athlete on the field, so I spend a couple hours a day on conditioning."

Hochuli said he also spends time in front of a mirror to make sure he can probably announce calls.

"I think the appearance we portray as referees are very important," Hochuli said. "When you say something, you don't want to be stumbling over your words. I've got a box full of play situations. I'll go over the announcements that need to be made and do the announcements, so when it comes up in games, I say it smoothly and not come out looking like an idiot."

Weekends begin by leaving for the airport at 4:30 a.m for an early flight. On Saturdays before the game, there are meetings throughout the day to review tapes and go over the written tests. At the stadiums, there are meetings before the game.

"Then we'll get home at 11 p.m. on Sunday night," Hochuli said. "We also have random drug and alcohol testing. They might call me at 9 p.m. the night before a game and tell me there will be drug testing in the morning. That might happen three or four times a year. I was tested on the morning of the Super Bowl.

"We don't quarrel about that. No official has ever showed up with a positive test. The league and we are concerned about the integrity of officials. During the offseason, we can't go to Las Vegas or any city with casinos without notifying the league and getting permission. That's all part of the image."

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

most head ref's, such as hochuli, will make upwards of 80-90k with as much as 130k available. these are the guys that are in control and make the calls.....keep in mind in hochuli's case, dude is a lawyer during the week so i dont think his compensation levels are problems in any case...

does the nfl need new ref's? yes.....

is it because they are making bad calls? no...

i think, this season, the hochuli thing got blown WAY out of porportion...the call itself was botched, yes, but it was handled correctly. hochuli made the call he saw from the vantage point he had. according to hochuli the play appeared to be an incomplete pass. you want to complain about this ruling, blame brady and the famed tuck rule call and you have grounds to how this all came about. anyways, hochuli made the call. hindsight IS ALWAYS 20/20. once you give 75k people the chance to watch replay on jumbotron, sure, everyone can see it was a fumble, and from there the call was handled, textbook style (like hochuli) always does, and subsequently played resumed according to the rule book.

since, refs have overthought every call they make because the fanbase (the driving force behind the league) has crucified hochuli and every wishy-washy call since because obviously MOST fans can do refs' jobs ten times better when they get to watch every play over and over and over.

so what is the real problem? speed. the speed of the game has left the ref's behind. calls are being made from halfway across the field because out of shape refs cannot keep up with where the game ha evolved. we dont need new refs...we just need a decent trainer to get the refs into shape.

Bring in new referees? Do you honestly think bringing in new referees is going to help? I watch all different types of sporting leagues and there are pretty much no good officials anywhere. I don't think i've ever watched a game where there wasn't a bad call.