Comments on: Jerry Markbreit thinks replacement refs don’t respect officiating

By: vikingsvoice

vikingsvoice — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:56:27 +0000

Elitist zebras. Now I’ve seen it all…

By: patriotsdefense

patriotsdefense — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:49:42 +0000

Scott Zolak?

By: southpaw79

southpaw79 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:27:57 +0000

There you have it fans. Markbreit says pay the Refs what ever they want, when ever they want it, or you should not have any football. The millions and millions of fans, 1600+ players, and thousands of people who’s job relies on Football being played should all lose out because it is just not fair to the Ref community to replace them. Refs > everyone else.

By: mogogo1

mogogo1 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:33:55 +0000

Markbreit’s comments say a whole lot. If they think they’re underpaid, they’ve got every right to hold out and try to get some more money. But they’re not bigger than the game…they’re not some saintly figures who have final say on love or respect of officiating or the sport of football…and they aren’t irreplaceable, no matter how much they believe that to be the case.

By: bigblueapple

bigblueapple — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:25:33 +0000

Refs are under payed (earn between 25000 and 75000) and work in a field in which their decisions are publicly scrutinized and important to millions of people. I can remember many occasions where I have seen refs make close but correct calls against a home team and wondered if the NFL would provide security for the after the game.

Bottom line: they deserve a higher salary, that is more reflective of the leagues revenue, the high stress, public nature of their jobs and of their importance to the game.

Pay them and end this debate.

By: sterilizecromartie

sterilizecromartie — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:09:51 +0000

I really don’t think the replacement refs have been all that bad. The media make these guys out to be blind, deaf, and dumb. So they missed a downed punt and called the team the wrong name. So what? Are those such unforgivable mistakes? The previous refs were making mistakes week to week too.

By: marima07

marima07 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:56:01 +0000

Respect for officiating?

If the dispute gets resolved, will the “real” officials continue to tally up their fraternity’s mistakes and publicize them for all of us to review and critique?

Then I’ll agree with them that they truly have respect for officiating.

By: chiadam

chiadam — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:44:00 +0000

Just a small sample of one game (Bears and Skins) from this weekend:
1. a holding penalty was enforced for 17 yards.
2. a pass interference penalty was called on a caught pass.
3. an official called a penalty on the Bears but pointed at the Redskins.
4. Lovie Smith had to remind the officials that the Bears could opt for a ten-second runoff OR use a timeout when they were penalized late in the first half.

The NFL has to fix this before opening kick on the real season. It will take about $100,000 per team. That’s two PSLs. Do it.

By: tialen

tialen — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:23:18 +0000

And how to these guys get qualified for these jobs, since the Union quite handily keeps this as a good ol boys club.

By: jnewby74

jnewby74 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:13:18 +0000

The avg wage for officials is $140K for 16 games, and the NFL wants them to have 401k instead of guaranteed pensions with 5% raise every year. My company has averaged 2% raises for the last 4 years. I’m siding with the owners on this one!

By: rcampore

rcampore — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:59:03 +0000

I was so rooting for these replacement officials to be really great because I seriously can’t stand the pompous holier than thou attitude of the regular officials. I feel no sympathy for the regular officials and the only reason I would want them back is unfortunately as bad as they are, the replacements are a bit worse and I want to see overall better football.

He can so easily say he would never take a replacement job because he’s never had to deal with that question. If I got offered a job in the NFL, I would take it in a heartbeat because when will some of them get another chance?

And the bully mentality of not hiring someone because they took a once in a lifetime opportunity is what adults are supposed to grow up from out of high school, but even old men can act like little cranky children.

By: eaglesw00t

eaglesw00t — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:58:06 +0000

lol

All of these officials, and ex officials come off as some of the most bitter and spitefuly individuals I have ever seen.

I feel bad for these replacements. I hope they stay, just to shut all these other guys up.

By: hatesycophants

hatesycophants — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:55:45 +0000

This lowlife makes me root against the incumbent officials. Officiating is not a highly specialized, unique skill set. If you can read, you can be an official. This is part of the problem. Like Green Bay fans, the NFL officials think it’s about them.

By: oaklegend

oaklegend — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:53:30 +0000

Lame, lame, lame. So far the replacements have been more than acceptable save for a few catastrophic isolated blunders. These guys and gals are coming along and are doing well under a ton of pressure. I say let’s keep them and toss out the old crew.

By: tabdanger

tabdanger — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:45:25 +0000

I sure hope when the regular refs come back we scrutinize their every play like we are doing the replacements..And for the record a few of the replacement player who replaced the real players in the 1987 players strike made some teams. Time heals and money talks..

By: lippy4246

lippy4246 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:42:01 +0000

Jerry has love for the union not officiating. If you love officiating you’d be out officiating a pee wee game or a umpiring a little league game for free and not crying about the replacement refs. Jerry if you love officiating so much why not help the replacement refs out and provide some training and constructive criticism?

By: santolonius

santolonius — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:35:12 +0000

goodell and the owners seem to desire to fight with anyone and everyone, whenever they get the slightest opportunity. they have it all. the world is their oyster. why can’t these people just enjoy what they have – which is everything – without going around looking for someone to beat down?

By: richndc

richndc — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:33:02 +0000

I heard JPP is going to “pants” a replacement official during the next game, then fart on a live mic during a post game interview. Classy guy, he should go play for Philly.

By: raiderrawnes

raiderrawnes — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:32:17 +0000

Maybe, maybe not…….but I’m sure they respect the checks they’re getting for doing it.

By: makimaguro

makimaguro — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:28:42 +0000

Hey Markbreit and the rest of you ‘ex officials’ who keep commenting: This isn’t High School. Joe Fan has no sympathy for you whatsoever. If you offered me a part time weekend job $140k/year I would jump on it in a heart beat. Not sure how you or your little fraternity bros think you are the sole heirs to the officiating throne.

By: destructicus

destructicus — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:25:51 +0000

If Jerry Markbreit truly has the utmost respect for officiating then when it’s time to determine who will be hired to fill a position it should come down to ability, not whether the candidate accepted a replacement position.

“being a replacement is the worst thing…” blah blah. He killed his point by being overly dramatic. And his threats make him sound like a jerk.

I have the utmost respect for officiating and officials (who do their job to the letter of the rules), but I have little to no respect for Jerry Markbreit’s comments.

By: eagleswin

eagleswin — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:24:15 +0000

“People in the know will never forgive them for being replacement officials,” Markbreit said. “I wouldn’t do it because I respect officiating too much.”

———————

That’s not respect, that’s discrimination. You are disqualifying them not based on their abilities but because you dislike them. Also, according to Borbinski above, he admits that making calls according to bias while he was a ref.

By: narrabeen23

narrabeen23 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:22:21 +0000

This is rich…

If officials had the ultimate respect for officiating, they wouldn’t be sitting out in the first place

If the officials want us to take their side in the financial battle their waging against the league, they shouldnt continue to make idiotic statements and bash the replacement refs, it’s hypocritical and reeks of desperation.

By: thankheavenfornumberseven

thankheavenfornumberseven — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:21:54 +0000

If the replacement officials are so unqualified, why would they be hired as regular officials?

By: matt14gg

matt14gg — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:20:20 +0000

Ahh, for once an objective opinion on the replacement officials, lol. And I’m certain that once the regular officials come back Jerry will give an objective opinion on their performance each week. It’s so easy to sit there and say he would never be a replacement ref. He’s FOS. He has no idea how he’d react if he was a struggling official who got a shot at the NFL. And in a million years, no one can tell me that half these replacement officials aren’t better than Jeff Triplette right now. Yet when that clown returns guys like Markbreit and Pereira will explain, week after week, that somehow every call Triplette and his crew made was correct. If you haven’t noticed already, it’s useless to have these guys comment on officiating when they’ve made it clear during this lockout that there is a bias towards “the brotherhood” that clouds their judgement.

By: dotdashx4

dotdashx4 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:20:18 +0000

I disagree with him. I don’t understand why nobody has ever called the NFL out on the prevalence of socialist policies in their league. “Oh don’t worry about being a good team,” says the NFL, “we have revenue sharing to keep even the worst teams afloat.” “Oh don’t take a better job,” says this schmoe, “that job is owned by the referees who are now refusing to do it.”

By: bringbacktheflex

bringbacktheflex — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:18:59 +0000

“The real question is how much the NFL owners respect officiating. And how much they’re willing to spend to show their respect.”

Money does not equal respect. No matter how much you pay a prostitute, she’s still a prostitute.

By: denverbronconj

denverbronconj — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:16:41 +0000

Everybody has a price. It’s the priceless values that differentiate those from the rest.

He’s right in regards to the replacements being outcasted cuz I know a Division II official locally and he would never accept a replacement position at the NFL level despite numerous attempts at being a NFL official in the past years. It’s a code among officials to not take the positions of those who earned it despite NFL’s strict requirements of being a certain height, weight, gender, etc.

By: bringbacktheflex

bringbacktheflex — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:16:10 +0000

Markbreit didn’t just hint at blackballing these guys from future employment, did he?

In these economic times, if you don’t want to work for that pay someone else will step in and take your job. Welcome to the real world.

By: packerswambulance

packerswambulance — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:13:14 +0000

Last year we had the lockout and some really bad football to start the season, this year we have unqualified refs. Thats 2 consecutive years of putting less than optimum quality product on the field, and still charging full price.
NFL needs to stop worrying about some of the lesser issues with the players and start worrying about their inability to resolve their issues before it hurts the product they’re selling.