APThe NFL and its locked out officials were negotiating prior to Monday night’s Packers-Seahawks debacle.
That game, which brought national attention, added light to the negotiations and perhaps a bit of heat.
Now, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen’s reporting that “an agreement in principle is at hand,” with the possibility of regular officials being on the field this weekend.
Of course, this is also like the first wave of “the lockout is about to end,” reports a little over a year ago. In the NFL, there’s really no such thing as “close.” It either is or it is not.
While all signs are pointing to a deal being struck soon, the devil will continue to reside in the details of this one, and until we see Ed Hochuli doing push-ups or a signed contract, it’s not time for a celebration just yet.
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You just know when they come back, they are going to cost teams some games and everyone will be calling for the replacements.
Good. Hope this isn’t another bad call.
Damn, I was really hoping for drastic measures by the players. I love chaos!
I think it’s fair to assume that the unjust result of the Packers-Seahawks game was clearly the catalyst that drove the NFL-NFLRA labor dispute toward resolution. Going forward, the league needs to come up with a better “Plan B” in anticipation of any future labor disputes with the NFLRA.
I can’t wait for the announcers to cover for the old refs the first time they get a call wrong.
Progress!!! Hallelujah!
I can’t wait to get the real officials back on the field and say while they stink they are not as bad as their replacement counterparts.
The rules are forever changing, wouldnt they need a week or two to famliarize themselves with the new rules? Im sure they didnt get any nfl paperwork during their lockout..wouldnt this weekend be a little too premature?
They might have been negotiating before Monday but I bet it was 99.9% argumentative. Monday night broke the camels back. We need them there this weekend. Begining tomorrow night.
So, 3 more weeks?
the cost was only one loss for the packers.
Now that’s taking one for the team. Thanks Packers !!Knew you good for something!- Vikings fan
Yay! Back to 100% accurate calls and refs that see everything on the field as it is! Surely the Packers will now go undefeated the rest of the season now that them old refs are comin back! Congrats Pack fans, you’re crying and whining outside Lambeau Field must’ve really swayed this decision. You can all back to your jobs, or couches wherever you’re supposed to be during the week.
All this time they have actually been watching Hochuli doing repetitions on the weight bench. “Getting close” means he’s finally slowing down.
do or do not…there is no close
If this deal doesn’t get done, than Goodell passes Gary Bettman as one of the worst commissioners of all time. You knew this when fans in Baltimore were screaming “B*** S***” at the top of their lungs while Michaels and Collinsworth openly mocked them.
Alot of anger/ blame from this lockout is being directed at Goodell. Media outlets and players alike are criticizing the NFL for “tarnishing the shield”. Although he deserves a significant portion, not enough criticism is being directed at the Refs association and NFL owners.
It is a negotiation, both sides are to blame. The NFL shouldnt just have to give in to whatever demands the Refs are making, however unreasonable they may be.
It was a no-win situation for the replacement refs. Whatever they did, they were going to be criticized.
I wonder how pissed the other replacement refs are for the ones who screwed up the monday night game
I hope this is for real.
I hope so.
Not to be a pessimist but damn, Ravens get stuck with scrubs for their game tomorrow even if the real refs come back.
Then I remembered its Cleveland so that’s cool.
It’s about time…
until we see Ed Hochuli doing push-ups
Please God, don’t let this happen shirtless…
Congratulations Packers, Patriots, and Steelers fans.
For fans of the other 29 teams in the NFL, nothing will change except there will be bad calls at faster speeds.
Every game prior to the beginning of the “regular” season should be treated as pre-season and not counted in the standings.
I miss Ed Hochuli…..
Said every nfl fan
I bet you anything it was the Rooneys that got this done. They have been behind just about every NFL accomplishment. GO STEELERS
If this report is accurate, it is hilarious that a Packers loss preceded an agreement. Hilarious and sad. Packers fans are the worst.
Now the Packers will have to go back to beating themselves.
If they make a deal can I still wear my replacement ref costume for Halloween?
can we restart the season too? pretty sure the standings would be a bit different right now with ref’s that wernt fired from something called the ‘lingerie league’
As a Packers fan..Ill say this hallelujah and Ed Hochuli..sucks we got jobbed to get this maybe done..but its early Pack will go 10-6 still
I’m ecstatic at this development.
Now we will have perfect officiating. There will never again be any blown call of any severity in the NFL, and there will definitely never again be any blown call affecting the outcome of a game.
Happy days are here again!
I want to see a Hochuli vs Tebow dead weightlifting contest.
Yea Hochuli is the epitome of perfect officiating…
Now we will never see another game decided by a bad call again!
The best thing about this entire deable is that the Packers are PISSED OFF and the Saints will soon be 0-4.
Who Dat !!!
Thank you to the Green Bay Packers, for taking one for the rest of the league.
Even if the real refs make mistakes, at least we know the best of them are making them and not rookies LOL.
“It’s about damn time”
Anyone else find it hilarious that “jobbed” is the de facto word of choice for what happened to the Packers? Tirico said it first and the rest of the world just ran with it. No one is saying they got “screwed” which I feel is a much more common term. The amount of times I have heard the word “jobbed” in my life just multiplied by 20 over the past two days.
League has completely embarassed itself this year.
At the time of an announced agreement I hope they have the sense to issue an apology to the fans for having to endure this garbage.
falcon they are not a 100% they have made bad calls I dont know what you are thinking and no the packers will not win every game from than on unless the refs are for the packers and the saints can also say they can start winning since they were also saying the replacement refs were costing them games which is all bogus
“Belichick won’t be grabbing me”
— Ed Hochuli
“Now we’ll never see another blown call again!”
Har har, you’re hilarious.
How simple do you have to be to think that just because the old refs blew calls that there is no difference between them and he horror show that is the replacement refs? Try seeing a little nuance.
Some of you are missing what the “Regular Refs” bring to the table. Yes, we’re still going to have some missed calls. But what you won’t see is Referee’s losing control of a game like last Monday Night with the Broncos & Falcons, or constantly having to review play after play. The flow of these games has been whack, the control over players and coaches has been whack, the consistancy in penalty calling has been whack. Get the real refs back out there, and get the replacemants back to NAIA and Lingerie Leagues.
What happens if they settle on friday. Does that mean
the Clevland and baltimore have to play thur night with the replacements and the rest of the league get the regular guys on sunday. If this gets done it will have to be today or wait till next tuesday
So, how do we know this isn’t the NFL trying to bum rush the referees into making a deal that they don’t like? That’s pretty much how they did it with the players. I for one would like to finally see someone stick it to Goodell and the owners.
Soooooo, close…..almost, but not quite…..
Yawn!
Peter King just tweeted:
Peter King @SI_PeterKing
I’m hearing NFLRA negotiator Scott Green has notified officials that a deal is not imminent. Stay tuned, obviously.
So Mort is once again full of crap. I hope you screw that liar to the wall, Florio.
i hate to say this but Mort is usually wrong. I can’t stand Scheftler but he has better sources. I dont believe it yet.
Bring back the regular refs so I can start watching the second game from the beginning and not from the middle of the second quarter.
Coincidence? I think not.
So we’re about to go from cheap refs that make mistakes, to expensive refs that make mistakes?
When this deal is finalized it will be a victory for the American people against immoral billionaires.
There is no way that the NFL can survive any longer being opposed to truth, justice, and the Green Bay Packers.
The NFL statement Tuesday exposed their lies, hypocrisy, and immorality and the American people will not stand for that.
Putting out an adulterated product at higher prices crapped on their NFL brand and shield.
They better start faking that they are interested in truth, justice, and the American way.
whatever the people that hate my comment are either packer fans or saints fans