What will the league do about the current state of officiating?

[son of deadrise]

This world was a better world when Howard Cosell was announcing our fucking football games.

I remember when he said on MNF, after a good kickoff return by a black player, "look at that little monkey go." Classic Cosell moment.

 

[son of deadrise]

So is it just me or does officiating feel like it is so much worse than it used to be? Is this just recency bias or nostalgia in my head? I'm sure I have always bitched about officials but it feels like there are way more issues now than there used to be 10, 20 or 30 years ago.

I think the biggest complaint is consistency among the different crews. Plus, the league keeps adding rules, a lot more than there were 20, 30 years ago.

 

[Genghis Khan]

I remember when he said on MNF, after a good kickoff return by a black player, "look at that little monkey go." Classic Cosell moment.

Alvin Garrett.

The funny thing is that Cosell was probably the least racist person in broadcasting (the first and for a while only broadcaster to call Ali by his preferred name for example and clearly loved him), but he got cancelled for it anyway.

I think the story was that Cosell called his grandchildren little monkeys as a term of endearment and it didn't occur to him when he said it that it was derogatory towards blacks or at least didn't mean it that way.

Unfortunately there's no nuance in this world sometimes.

 

[Simpleton]

It’s worse now because of the increased repertoire that gets called. Back in the day, you’d have your questionable DPI, offensive holding and is it a catch/fumble. Fine. You have three main types of controversial calls. Sometimes these penalties may occur on a play, usually they don’t.

But today’s game there are so many additional penalties that it’s harder to have one play occur without any of them happening:
QB helmet grazed
QB hit below the knee
Defender landing on the QB
Defender lowered helmet
Defender hits QB sliding
Defensive holding
Hitting defenseless receiver
Horsecollar
Peelback block

With the heightened QB protection in conjunction to rise of running QBs, it further exacerbates the probability that a penalty could be called on any given play.

And then there’s the increase in television cameras capturing (and replaying) more of the off-the-ball action. Decades ago you don’t get much scrutiny/replays over DPI for receivers that weren’t the intended receiver. Nowadays, there’s essentially a camera isolated on every receiver.

The more complex the rules become the more difficult it is to officiate the game consistently, and the league literally adds new caveats and "points of emphasis" every year, which is why you see random shit for a few weeks at a time like the emphasis on grounding over the first two months of the season that has seemingly melted away for the most part.

It's why they officiated the 2017-18 Super Bowl with a different viewpoint on what constituted a catch than they did throughout the regular season that year, because they had decided to change it in the offseason and figured why not just call the Super Bowl that way.

Games may or may not be fixed or "lightly guided" to closer outcomes in some form or fashion, but at the end of the day when the league is in bed with gambling to the extent that they are now and the officiating is as inconsistent as it is now, you're bound to stoke anger.

 

[NoDak]

Alvin Garrett.

The funny thing is that Cosell was probably the least racist person in broadcasting (the first and for a while only broadcaster to call Ali by his preferred name for example and clearly loved him), but he got cancelled for it anyway.

I think the story was that Cosell called his grandchildren little monkeys as a term of endearment and it didn't occur to him when he said it that it was derogatory towards blacks or at least didn't mean it that way.

Unfortunately there's no nuance in this world sometimes.

I saw a documentary on Cosell where it talked about that moment. And you are right, it was a phrase he'd used about his grandchildren and in a moment of excitement, threw that out to describe what he was seeing to the viewers not realizing it could (and would) be taken as a racial slur. His granddaughter (I think that's who she was) said that incident haunted him for the rest of his life, and he was ashamed and deeply saddened that he might have offended and disrespected an entire race in a single instant.

 

[p1_]

I remember when he said on MNF, after a good kickoff return by a black player, "look at that little monkey go." Classic Cosell moment.

most unfortunate choice of words for a great sports analyst/commentator.

 

[ravidubey]

It’s worse now because of the increased repertoire that gets called. Back in the day, you’d have your questionable DPI, offensive holding and is it a catch/fumble. Fine. You have three main types of controversial calls. Sometimes these things may occur on a play, usually they don’t.

But today’s game there are so many additional penalties that it’s harder to have one play occur without any of them happening:
QB helmet grazed
QB hit below the knee
Defender landing on the QB
Defender lowered helmet
Defender hits QB sliding
Defensive holding
Hitting defenseless receiver
Horsecollar
Peelback block

With the heightened QB protection in conjunction to rise of running QBs, it further exacerbates the probability that a penalty could be called on any given play.

And then there’s the increase in television cameras capturing (and replaying) more of the off-the-ball action. Decades ago you don’t get much scrutiny/replays over DPI for receivers that weren’t the intended receiver. Nowadays, there’s essentially a camera isolated on every receiver.

Yep. Impossible to be perfect, and moreover unwanted.

You don’t want every OL hold to be called, nor do you want beasts like Myles Garrett or Micah Parsons getting unfettered access to the leagues’ QBs

Refs are in an impossible position

 

[son of deadrise]

I saw a documentary on Cosell where it talked about that moment. And you are right, it was a phrase he'd used about his grandchildren and in a moment of excitement, threw that out to describe what he was seeing to the viewers not realizing it could (and would) be taken as a racial slur. His granddaughter (I think that's who she was) said that incident haunted him for the rest of his life, and he was ashamed and deeply saddened that he might have offended and disrespected an entire race in a single instant.

I never knew the backstory to that incident. It's unfortunate, and sad. A no-win situation for all concerned.

The more complex the rules become the more difficult it is to officiate the game consistently, and the league literally adds new caveats and "points of emphasis" every year, which is why you see random shit for a few weeks at a time like the emphasis on grounding over the first two months of the season that has seemingly melted away for the most part.

It's why they officiated the 2017-18 Super Bowl with a different viewpoint on what constituted a catch than they did throughout the regular season that year, because they had decided to change it in the offseason and figured why not just call the Super Bowl that way.

Games may or may not be fixed or "lightly guided" to closer outcomes in some form or fashion, but at the end of the day when the league is in bed with gambling to the extent that they are now and the officiating is as inconsistent as it is now, you're bound to stoke anger.

The gambling aspect to it is the real hand grenade waiting to go off. If the officiating situation stays as unsettled as it is now, it's just a matter of time, when not if, that questionable or controversial calls become linked to point spreads and betting. As that takes hold, whether accusations are true or not, fans will tune out in droves.

What's the point in watching a game or rooting if you're convinced the outcome is rigged? And the extension of that is, what's the point in betting if you believe the outcome is rigged?

It's shortsightedness driven by greed (what else is new?).

 

[Genghis Khan]

Dean Blandino: NFL officials have been approached to manipulate games for sports betting reasons

Dean Blandino revealed that NFL officials have been approached to manipulate games for sports betting reasons.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[Cowboysrock55]

What we need to do is add more female refs with minimal experience. That will do the trick....

 

[boozeman]

most unfortunate choice of words for a great sports analyst/commentator.

He could have also been hammered. In fact, it was pretty likely.

 

[UncleMilti]

Yep. Impossible to be perfect, and moreover unwanted.

You don’t want every OL hold to be called, nor do you want beasts like Myles Garrett or Micah Parsons getting unfettered access to the leagues’ QBs

Refs are in an impossible position

Premier rushers like Parsons or Garrett should have unimpeded access- That’s how the game should be played. The OL is supposed to block these great rushers, not get a safety net by holding and grabbing and pulling guys to slow them down.
I’ve watched Garrett, Parsons, Watt…hell basically all the great ones…get mugged and held. It’s gotten exponentially worse IMO over the last 5-6 years. Many of these holds are blatant and even casual fans see the holds. But the real issue is the refs won’t call the blatant in your face shit but will call ticky tack shit that many times doesn’t affect the play whatsoever. Thats the biggest issue with 90% of the NFL refs, whether it’s offensive holding defensive holding or PI/Illegal contact shit.
Call the game consistently, call the game fairly, call the game as the game is intended to be played.

 

[ravidubey]

Call the game consistently, call the game fairly, call the game as the game is intended to be played.

Call it consistently first and foremost.

 

[boozeman]

Call it consistently first and foremost.

What entertainment value does that provide?

 

[son of deadrise]

Premier rushers like Parsons or Garrett should have unimpeded access- That’s how the game should be played. The OL is supposed to block these great rushers, not get a safety net by holding and grabbing and pulling guys to slow them down.
I’ve watched Garrett, Parsons, Watt…hell basically all the great ones…get mugged and held. It’s gotten exponentially worse IMO over the last 5-6 years. Many of these holds are blatant and even casual fans see the holds. But the real issue is the refs won’t call the blatant in your face shit but will call ticky tack shit that many times doesn’t affect the play whatsoever. Thats the biggest issue with 90% of the NFL refs, whether it’s offensive holding defensive holding or PI/Illegal contact shit.
Call the game consistently, call the game fairly, call the game as the game is intended to be played.

The problem with giving pass rushers unimpeded access is that the league doesn't want 32 teams forced to play backup QBs when the starters get hurt, which they will if they're getting sacked five, six, seven times a game.

A marquee QB, in a clean pocket, arching a beautiful pass downfield—that's entertaining. A backup QB running for his life, or disappearing under a pile d-linemen, that's boring. Holding calls, too many of them, are also boring. Three-and-outs are boring, so are punts.

The league likes marquee QBs, and it likes scoring.

 

[ravidubey]

The league likes marquee QBs, and it likes scoring.

What I'm saying.

You don't capture a lot of new viewers with a bunch of 13-3 games

 

[Smitty]

Dean Blandino: NFL officials have been approached to manipulate games for sports betting reasons

Dean Blandino revealed that NFL officials have been approached to manipulate games for sports betting reasons.

awfulannouncing.com

I’m shocked, but I have complete faith that not a single ref has taken the bait.

/sarcasm

 

[roughneck266]

The problem with giving pass rushers unimpeded access is that the league doesn't want 32 teams forced to play backup QBs when the starters get hurt, which they will if they're getting sacked five, six, seven times a game.

A marquee QB, in a clean pocket, arching a beautiful pass downfield—that's entertaining. A backup QB running for his life, or disappearing under a pile d-linemen, that's boring. Holding calls, too many of them, are also boring. Three-and-outs are boring, so are punts.

The league likes marquee QBs, and it likes scoring.

That is definitely the reasoning, but they have addressed that ad nauseum already. Can't hit them high, you can't hit them low, etc.. The rules are already heavily skewed toward offensive success, and they always basically tell the defenders, to "catch up" but I think it's time they take some of the training wheels off for the offense.

 

[P_T]

One more ref per game would go a long way... then have one on either side of the field on the LOS, whose sole job it is is watch the OL and DL from snap to whistle.

 

[Bill Shatner]

What we need to do is add more female refs with minimal experience. That will do the trick....

Only if they're hot tho. And in thongs.