The NFL and the refs union haven’t agreed to new contracts. As a result, the NFL will begin the 2012 season with replacement refs in Week 1.
This isn’t the first time NFL has used replacement refs. Back in 2001, the NFL used replacement refs for one week before finalizing their contract with the union.
Ray Anderson, the executive VP of football operations for the NFL, points to a lot of reasons why the league has been forced to use replacement refs once again: “One of our key goals in this negotiation is to enhance our ability to recruit, train, and replace officials who are not performing adequately. We believe that officials should be evaluated and performance issues addressed in the same way as players, coaches, club management and league staff. We have proposed several steps to accomplish this, including having a number of full-time officials and expanding the overall number of officials.”
If history repeats itself, we could see the real refs return in Week 2. However, at this point, it’s not a given.
Replacement Refs NFL (Image: TSN.ca)
Post from: EveryJoe
This isn’t the first time NFL has used replacement refs. Back in 2001, the NFL used replacement refs for one week before finalizing their contract with the union.
Ray Anderson, the executive VP of football operations for the NFL, points to a lot of reasons why the league has been forced to use replacement refs once again: “One of our key goals in this negotiation is to enhance our ability to recruit, train, and replace officials who are not performing adequately. We believe that officials should be evaluated and performance issues addressed in the same way as players, coaches, club management and league staff. We have proposed several steps to accomplish this, including having a number of full-time officials and expanding the overall number of officials.”
If history repeats itself, we could see the real refs return in Week 2. However, at this point, it’s not a given.
Post from: EveryJoe