NFL Officiating Issues

I see a disturbing trend for writers to claim that NFL officials are biased in favor of one team or another. That's not a new trend among NFL fans but as somebody who has worked in journalism for four decades and has officiated various sports since I was in my teens, I have a serious problem with that.

I've seen numerous social media posts from journalists claiming NFL officials are incompetent or biased.

Certainly, there have been some officiating issues this season. But to suggest that officials are on the take or that the league has a stake in certain teams getting into the postseason is just plain wrong.

If I'm an editor and one of my writers insinuates that, even on social media, I fire him or her.

 

Thank you, Mr. Goodell.

Keep up the good work, and remember: Any hit on Andrew Luck is roughing the passer.

 

Tom Brady got hurt a decade ago and the league immediately passed a rule outlawing that type of hit. Are officials biased against teams? Not that I can see. Is the league from Goodell on down biased in favor of some stars (but not others, right Cam?)? That's pretty obvious.

 

To be fair to the officials, how can you hurt Superman?
And the way the league has treated Tom Brady since then you’d think he was a Chinese railroad worker on the Goodell Pacific Railroad.

The problem is the officials don’t know how and when to call a penalty because they almost could on every play. And with replay and the urge to get it right at all costs, they are nothing but piñatas. The game is slow and disjointed and every player, every. Single. Player. Asks for a flag on every. Single. Play. It’s a fucking game which I don’t bet on, so just play the game, let them hit each other and review scores and turnovers within 30 seconds of the play or the call stands.

 

Knock me over with a feather.

 

Officials make huge errors, they’re human. But game is too fast for anyone to make conscious decisions in favor of one team/person. Try it someday, you’ll see it’s nearly impossible.

 

One of the many problems with the opening post is that it lumps accusations that the officials are incompetent with accusations that they are on the take. Those are completely different things. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a journalist writing about incompetence by officials. If they blow a call, they blow a call. Everybody can see it.

Claiming that the officials are biased, however, is far more difficult to prove. If a journalist makes that claim, he or she better have more than a few bad calls in a game.

Officials are not above criticism, so the newbie is dead wrong on that point, but journalists shouldn't be talking about fixed games or biased officials unless they can back it up with more than just what they see on the field.

 

I've written on officiating issues all sports for some two decades. There are issues with NFL officiating that should be addressed. The speed of the game (much faster tan it appears on TV) contribute to the difficulties of officiating it properly. Replay is also a factor; it is being utilized for purposes for. which it really wasn't intended.

Those are points worthy of legitimate and serious discussion. But I've been NFL beat writers imply on social media that the league wants certain teams in the playoffs and instructs its officials to call games to that end, or that teams get calls for this reason or that.

That's a problem for me. Because most reporters don't know the rules (in any sport), don't know officiating protocol, and don't understand how officials are evaluated and graded.

It is to the credit of all that network commentators, including the former officials note in the broadcast booths, are willing to point out errors and criticize officials.

But the officials are not incompetent and certainly not biased in any direction.

 

I think I've seen this thread before, but it was how NBA refs always protect the Lakers.

I'm reminded of the time I was leaving a high school soccer game and a parent was saying I needed to do a story about how the officials were biased against Hometown because they all lived in Springfield or Shelbyville.

 

It's a bigger problem now because of social media and the fact that many sports franchises and organizations produce their own content. But another issue is that too many reporters allow themselves to become fans of the teams they cover..If a call or a series of calls go against they team, they think they've been jobbed. That's ways been a problem at the school level and college levels but I think it's an issue at the professional level as well.

 

When an official or officiating crew fails to do its job properly, that is incompetence. There is nothing wrong with pointing that out.

 

I was going to post on the NHL thread about the officiating abomination VGK at Anaheim on Friday. But nobody cares.