The NFL is moving toward having full-time referees, even if some refs aren’t willing to quit their other jobs.
NFL Senior V.P. of Officiating Dean Blandino said on PFT Live that he is concerned some referees will quit if forced to go full-time because they make more money in their other jobs. But he said he ultimately expects the league to have full-time referees anyway.
“It’s certainly a concern,” Blandino said of some referees quitting. “When you look at our sport, football is different from other sports. We typically play once a week and as officiating has evolved, that’s why football officials have had other professions, because of the longer gap between games. So that’s a concern. We’re looking at it from a phased-in approach, and giving our referees the opportunity to have two or three years to phase into this and maybe phase out of their other professions. The concern is there, it’s real, you may lose some of your better people, but we think the benefits of full-time officiating outweigh those risks and we’re going to continue down that path.”
It seems likely that some referees would, in fact, choose not to be referees anymore if they were told they had to choose. Ed Hochuli, for instance, is a highly paid attorney who would be taking a big pay cut if he gave that up. But with the NFL paying referees six-figure salaries, most of them would probably stick with it. If the league is convinced it would improve officiating, then the league should make referees full-time employees.