NFL V.P. of officiating Mike Pereira holds a thankless job. He’s responsible for 120 game officials, and their many good decisions are met with a shrug of the shoulders, if that much.
But their mistakes are analyzed and scrutinized and criticized.
“We make mistakes every game,” Pereira tells Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com. “There’s never been a perfect game yet.”
Though the obsession with mistakes goes with the territory, Pereira has had enough of it. He admits to being burned out, and he has rebuffed repeated requests by the league to remain on the job.
“It’s time,” Pereira told Marvez. “This job to me is like being an
official. You can’t get tired or run down because you then can’t
officiate to the best of your ability. I feel the same way here. . . . It’s a lot of pressure.”
But despite the pressure and the mistakes made every game, Pereira still opposes the notion of hiring full-time officials.
“Look at other organizations with full-time [officials] like
baseball or basketball,” Pereira said. “Because they’re full-time are
we saying they don’t make any mistakes?”
Well, maybe they make fewer mistakes. And maybe when they make mistakes there’s less criticism because the use of full-time officials creates the perception that baseball and basketball are trying to have a perfect game, every game.
“I think you’re guessing
whether it would make a difference [in football],” Pereira said. “I really wouldn’t be willing to
make that decision and then lose 45 percent of my staff. It would be
devastating.”
Still, the reaction by the officials largely depends on the adjustment to their compensation. If a guy like lawyer Ed Hochuli could make as much money as a full-time officials that he makes as a part-time zebra and a part-time shark, he very well might choose to be a full-time referee.
If the NFL would propose only a modest increase over the officials’ current compensation for the privilege of having them devote their full professional attention to becoming as perfect as they can be, then plenty of them might choose to keep their day jobs. But if the NFL decides to make the financial investment necessary to get the absolute best out of the officials, then maybe they would stick around.
Either way, the time has come for the NFL to seriously consider making the officials full-time employees, and preventing them from moonlighting.
Long gone are the days in which players had offseason jobs. The success and the significance of the league requires the league to consider making the officiating function a year-round vocation as well.
Pereira just likes feeling like he has a legitimate full-time job because of his weekly 2 hour press conferences acknowledging all the F***-ups his part-timers make each week.
Florio: “Well, maybe they make fewer mistakes. And maybe when they make mistakes there’s less criticism because the use of full-time officials creates the perception that baseball and basketball are trying to have a perfect game, every game.”
Wow, that’s some slam dunk evidence right there that FT officials work better. Maybe this, maybe that.
Did you see the baseball playoffs and the string of awful blown calls? Oh, that’s right, you hate baseball. So how in the heck do you know?
And I know for certain that baseball isn’t trying to have a perfect game, every game because they won’t use replay in many situations where it would correct a bad call.
Still zero evidence that FT officials would help the NFL.
Pfffft……never gonna happen. The NFL is still making money hand over fist even in this economy. They won’t cough another dime for full time refs.
they barely do their job as is. paying them more would just be like giving a homeless guy 20 bucks instead of 20 cents…its still all gonna be spend on crack or malt liquor. if they become full employees of the nfl then they damn well better be trained through the ENTIRE OFFSEASON and be held responsible (fired) for terrible calls.
pereira just doesnt want any REAL responsibility thrown onto him when a game goes the wrong way due to a botched call by one of his refs…i hate that man so goddamn much…
Fans oppose Pereira.
Seriously unless you are a Colts fan how can you like this jackoff?
I don’t know how this works but is there some way they can put more officials on the field without compromising the integrity of the game.
Three decades ago Bud Grant said the NFL needed full-time refs. They’re moving at MLB speed on this.
God I hate the comment system on this website.
“I really wouldn’t be willing to make that decision and then lose 45 percent of my staff. It would be devastating.”
He wouldn’t lose 45% of his staff. He’s retiring. His replacement would lose 45% of the staff.
The NFL could make it an extended transition to a full-time staff. Start with making the referees full-time. Then the following year make the back judge and side judge full-time personel. And follow those positions with the reamaining positions at a rate of 1 or 2 per year. This would also allow for proper training training of each position as they fill them.
Funny how the league which is so hyper-elite and professional in just about every other way just uses part-time officials–for one of the most important jobs in the entire game–and only pays their cheerleaders pocket change, when they in turn are used all over every promotional device the NFL uses.
You’d almost think they’re money-grubbing scum or something.
Add more officials then?
When their is so much scrutiny on them and the games themselves with almost every camera angle covered it is foolish to have part timers running the show.
I agree with thunderdog on this. There is no evidence that full time officials would do a better job, although I’ll admit it seems logical. However, if you have fulltime officials you also will be creating another subset of NFL employees, and it is logical to assume that it would create it’s own politics. Officiating in the NFL then is not a job, but rather a discipline. Mistakes are part of the game, regardless of who makes them or why. Players work fulltime and they still make mistakes. The referee’s most critical judgments happen in a split second. Procedural errors are correctable in the current system. Bad calls are as much a part of the game as penalties and strange bounces of the ball. On balance the refs do a good job. Leave it alone.
No, of course there should not be full-time officials. That’s ridiculous. What would they do the other 6 or 7 months of the year? Go to officiating sessions for 40-50 hours a week? … Insane.
Plus, the MLB and NBA seasons are set up differently, especially the MLB, which forces the job to essentially be full time. There are 162 regular season MLB games per team per season.
There are only 16 regular season games per team — once per week, usually — and then the short playoffs. Of course these individuals can have other jobs with all their time off. Or if they’re rich not have other jobs.
Referring to Mike Pereira talking about the imperfections of MLB and NBA officiating, namely talking about the MLB and NBA compared to NFL officiating … : “Well, maybe they make fewer mistakes.”
Well, maybe they make more mistakes. Well, maybe there is life that exists outside the solar system.
MLB had some very, very high-profile blunders this past season. Not a couple — a lot. We don’t need to go into the NBA, either.
That one sentence I’m talking about I’d try to think about. And if one believes there are “fewer” mistakes made my MLB umpires and NBA referees than NFL officials, then try to somehow prove it.
I am certain this will not be received well, but: Most of these refs are well-to-do guys, lawyers, CEOs and such. They won’t make the same money doing it full time, for most of them it is a hobby. Entertaining the idea of full time refs opens the door for Donaghy-type revelation. Get it?
There should NEVER be full-time refs in football.
Look at the full time refs for baseball: fat, lazy, arrogant, unmwilling to change, fighting EVERY improvement.
There has been ZERO reply in baseball because the very overweight, slow (minded), idiots behind the plate who refuse to move their position (figuratvly and literally) to advance the dim-whitted sport of bas-er-ball.
I’ve been a proponent of full-time refs because it’s a complex game and that would allow for the officiating squads to practice as units and run simulations, and most important, learn the rules … like which plays are reviewable … and how many timeouts each team is allowed. I don’t think the fat, lazy thing comes into play because they have to run up and down the field to keep up with the players and this would give them more time to work out. Like McWest said, you phase it in over time so you don’t lose 45 percent of the staff at once. And make them accountable to other people to counter the political issues.
@redsquare …
Cheerleaders aren’t league employees; they’re team employees and not all teams even have cheerleaders. The Steelers don’t have any and they poll as one of the top two most recognized NFL teams in the world. So much for the promotional benefit of cheerleaders. Personally, I don’t care if I never see a cheerleader. I’m perfectly happy just watching the men … um, I mean the players
@ca_viking
theyre fat and lazy for the same reason a lot of baseball players are…theyre on a baseball field. 80+% of that game is standing and/or sitting in the shade. umps dont do much more work, in fact they do less. and their unwillingness to change is because of the umpires union, they want to keep it traditional.
and i dont know them personally but assuming theyre arrogant is just fumbling for insults.
Never will the NFL go to full time officials. Full time officials = accountability = not being able to make horrendous calls EVERY WEEK so the colts can win games
Officials in any sport become proficient by practicing their profession. Anyone can learn the rules. Simply watching film and reading a book 37 hours a week to prepare for 3 hours in the spotlight one day per week will not improve officiating.
If they played, say, two games per day, Monday through Saturday and four on Sunday, instead of 15 on Sunday and one on Monday, then maybe. But right now, the NFL does not have a scheduling model that permits using full-time officials.
What’s the point of full time referees? It makes sense in other sports because their seasons are longer and played on a daily basis. They must have full time officials. But what does it accomplish in football? Nothing.
These referees are already well schooled on the rules and they are constantly quizzed and graded, promoted and demoted.
What do you think full time referees would be doing in the offseason? Would they sit around and just watch film every single day? That sounds like a huge waste of time to me.
Referees rarely make a mistake on the rules. Most mistakes are on split second decisions or on plays where their view was blocked. Sitting in a classroom in the offseason will do nothing to help with that.
@dont taze me bro. they would be held much much more accountable for shit calls (see; Eagles, Colts, etc), and yes because theyre getting paid full year salaries they would be trained much more intesnely
the worst of the refs would be gone, and there would be more people applying for jobs (because it pays full time) and therefore allowing for more refs on field and THEREFORE AND THUS ALLOWING FOR LESS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED SHIT CALLS
scuse me i was on a roll
How would they be more accountable by being full time? Refs are already graded. Refs are already dismissed if they miss too many calls. It happens every year.
People just like to complain about refs because it’s easier than accepting that their team was beaten, like whiney Seahawk fans.
The fact is, NFL refs are as good or better than any other league’s officials. There will always be some blown calls no matter what or how you pay them.
Okay, you won’t need to lose 45% of your referees (I can’t believe I visit such a sophomoric sense of humor that I can’t say “staff”) if you stipulate that all referees have the option of going full time (for a new pay rate) and that all new referees entering the league must be full time. The existing refs can stay part time until they retire.
Hey Brian_21, you state that “maybe there is life outside the solar system.” You do realize that it is near a 100% certainty that there is indeed life outside the solar system, right? So I guess you should come around to the side that says full time refs would be a good thing.
Do refs make more mistakes than umpires in the MLB or refs in the NBA? Can’t say for 100% sure, because I don’t watch lame sports. Whoever suggested they put replay in the MLB must REALLY want to kill that game off. It is so slow already that replay would kill off the remaining audience.
Weekly though, I see too many bad calls, and I am not talking about just my Patriots. I notice that the bad calls always seem to go against one team, ALWAYS. You see a few make up calls, but that is expected. Every week there seems to be a bad call that helps decide a game. VERY bad. Notice the Colts dramatic come backs every week? Yeah, me too. Whenever they get behind by two scores, Manning will throw a deep pass in the second half, and he ALWAYS gets a flag for PI. In some cases, like against the Pats, he doesn’t even try to make the ball catchable, and the receiver doesn’t even make contact! Still, Manning gets his PI call, the Colts move down the field and get their chance at a comeback, courtesy of the NFL refs.
What is my point? The refereeing in the league is no more than a sham. They are out there to help certain teams. Teams that have a heavy influence on certain committees (the whole PI emphasis was insisted on by Polian in the first place) and to help teams that the league thinks will bring in more revenue if they win. With part time refs, the league has this one final excuse, and that is: part time refs make more mistakes, which was just admitted.
What, exactly, would be the harm in making refs full time? Some of you argue it would not necessarily make them better. That is pure bunk folks. Would it make them worse? Of course not! Would requiring them to devote more time to perfecting their craft make them commit more or fewer errors? We all know that practice and review lead to fewer mistakes, which is why teams practice so much! And what fan would NOT want fewer mistakes made by officials? No true fan of the game wants the game decided by an official, so let’s have a system in place that makes this less likely, okay? Oh, let’s also not forget that full time well compensated refs would mean that you can review their work, and fire those that are not performing well. It will give you a better base from which to choose.
And what possible motives would there be for NOT hiring full time refs? First there is the possibility that the NFL simply doesn’t want to spend the money. I can see this, but really, money is not the issue here. The NFL isn’t exactly hurting for cash. The ONLY reason I can think of is that the NFL WANTS to have a higher level of mistakes in the officiating game. The only possible reason for that is that the league wants to be able to influence games, and blame it on poor officiating if they get backed into a corner (or congressional investigation). They had better be careful though, because bad officiating would normally have some degree of balance to it, with each team as likely to get a bad call go their way as not, but this is not the case. Unfortunately in most games, it usually leans heavily towards one team, and that team usually either has some heavy influence in the game, like the competition committee, or brings in heavy revenue to the league.
Florio here more proof that their should be fulltime officials in the NFL :
with a 1:08 left in the 3rd quarter the Eagles Jaqua Parker sacked Falcons QB Chris Redman 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Redman fumbled the ball forward 5 yards and Jerious Norwood recovered it. The referees spotted the football where Norwood recovered it. I know you have said that on offense the ball cannot be advanced because of a fumble. So I wanted to bring this to your attention to see if you know if the referees made a mistake. Also this might help your case of calling for full time refs in the NFL. It seems so simple I dunno why they cant get this right.
Then with 14:18 left in the 4th quarter a Falcons’ player grabbed Donovan McNabb by the head and threw him to the ground. I know you can’t have contact with a QB’s head but the refs didnt call a penalty. I usaully dont have a problem with that if they call it the same both ways, but the Eagles have been penalized twice for contact to the helmet of Chris Redman and once on a defenseless reciever.
It is once again Hochulis’ crew making these mistakes. If the NFL will not get full time refs they should atleast get effective part-timers.