They should all be given a large cash bonus and a first class vacation wherever they want.

I say shame on Mike Florio for insinuating that because of these three weeks that these refs are now “unemployable”. Think about it this way, 3 weeks of games, 16 games per week, average about 120 plays a game. That was 5,760 plays that were officiated by these refs, and the outcry is over what is only a handful of really bad calls. Considering that these guys never saw football at the speed of the NFL before, plus the pressure of officiating in the midst of 70,000 plus the millions watching on TV, and the stigma of being “scabs”, I give these guys all the credit in the world, and commend for performing well under the circumstances.

You’ll notice no such threats were publicly issued this time. Its because the refs got smart – current and former NFL refs had moved into key supervisory positions at major conferences and all said to the current major college refs, “you become an NFL replacement ref you’re fired from college work.”

That was a brilliant tactic the NFL likely hadn’t considered. Most fans don’t remember the 2001 strike because 9/11 overshadowed it. But I guarantee the owners and refs remember. What the owners remember is the major college refs actually did a good job. The refs remember that was the impression left on the media too, which is why they took the tack they did.

Not so fast. As the NFL ultimately decides who is hired, its almost guaranteed at least a few will get NFL jobs. If not, the NFLRA would let that fact be known among working officials and the NFL would never be able to hire replacement refs again. Its a basic tenant of labor-management disputes that when replacements are used, labor tries to freeze them out and management assures at least a token few remain.

It won’t be many – I’d bet the over/under on hiring refs from the replacement ranks would be 3, with maybe a few more down the road. Most replacements know they never would be able to ref at the NFL level, either because they’re too old or because they’ve already had enough poor evaluations to realize they weren’t going to advance to the top. Any of them who had truly bonehead calls during their replacement audition know they’ve seen the last of the NFL from the field.

They were put in an IMPOSSIBLE position with minimal (for the NFL) skills and gave it their all.

I don’t care if my Packers miss the playoffs by one game, I applaud these people for the effort.

Now, about the Owners …

“Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory… lasts forever”

They did their best; I don’t believe for a second hey didn’t give any less than 100%.

Blame goes to the owners who undervalued the regular refs, thankfully they let their pride waiver a little.

I used the term scab and I own my own business and have never been in a union or allowed union crews to work on my projects.

I call them scabs because these guy undermined people in their own profession although they would gladly suck up the benefits of membership in the NFLRA if it were ever offered to them, which it never will be because they lack the skill set necessary to advance beyond the lowest levels of their profession.

Let’s not glorify these guys like underdog heroes. They grabbed an opportunity to make a few bucks and get on TV. It’s not like they volunteered to fight in a life of death battle to save democracy.