Roy Ellison, the umpire accused of spewing insults and profanity at Washington offensive lineman Trent Williams, has previously been accused of similar inappropriate language directed at players.
Former NFL head of officiating Mike Pereira said on FOX Football Daily that after a similar accusation, he had to sit down with Ellison and warn him not to let it happen again.
“What concerns me about this is I sat in the same chair that Dean Blandino, the vice president of officiating, is sitting in right now, with the same official, Roy Ellison, who years ago allegedly shouted and swore at players, and it was a big issue that I had to deal with,” Pereira said. “I actually had to talk with him in the office to make sure that none of this was going on. So the fact that it has happened twice now with the same individual has to concern the league, and I know they are taking a strong look at this.”
In the previous instance, the NFL had no proof that Ellison had verbally abused a player, so the league didn’t discipline him. But Pereira said Ellison was admonished that such behavior wouldn’t be tolerated.
“We had no audio, so it was nothing that we could actually confirm,” Pereira said. “When I had to deal with it, there was no proof, so it was a he said, she said. But something happened. And we did have a long conversation, Roy and I did, that we should never act like this as a football official on the field. And I said to him, ‘I don’t ever want to hear about this again.’”
Now we have heard about it happening again. And Ellison, one of the NFL’s few full-time officials, may be in hot water with the league office.