Former Super Bowl ref: Disciplining officials just a PR move by Roger Goodell regime

By Scott Green | Special to USA TODAY

Scott Green was an NFL referee whose career spanned 23 seasons, more than 350 regular and post season games and three Super Bowls -- XXXVI, XXXVIII and XLIV. Green served as President of the National Football League Referee Association (NFLRA) from 2008 – 2013 and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) which has a membership of more than 20,000 sports officials throughout the United States. He wrote the following piece for USA TODAY:

Any fan of any sport has probably lamented at some point – rightfully or not – that “The refs are killing us!”

Officials will all agree that if you are on the field long enough, the ball will bounce the wrong way at least once. I know this well. Before retiring two years ago, I worked as an official in the National Football League for 23 seasons. I was fortunate to be selected to work three Super Bowls in my career, but over the course of more than 350 NFL games, I’ll be the first to admit, I wasn’t perfect.

In 2003, as the back judge for the San Francisco 49ers–New York Giants Wild Card game, I missed a key pass interference call. It would have offset another penalty and given the Giants one more play to possibly win the game.

More than a decade later, that experience is fresh in my mind as I watch my former colleagues strive for impossible perfection. The human element is not just part of the game, it’s a celebrated and embraced element. Decisions made during those 60 minutes result in coaching errors, interceptions, and fouls that sometimes fall in the gray areas of the 176 pages of the NFL rule book and case book of plays.

All that said, a few very visible errors in recent weeks has rightfully put NFL officiating in the public spotlight.

The League is predictably handling the issue no differently than the others that characterize Commissioner Roger Goodell’s regime: arbitrary punishment of an individual for a fast public relations fix. It’s a reactive approach that may give some short-term satisfaction to one team’s fans, but it doesn’t address improvement.

To properly identify and correct these problems, it’s time to look at the big picture, and we must start at the top.

NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino works hard and earnestly wants to improve NFL officiating. He is a master of technologies and replay. But, Blandino has never officiated an NFL game. His view and understanding of the game and its officiating are exclusively through video, which is a far cry from being on-field with 22 large, fast and extremely skilled players colliding for three hours.

Yet Blandino is now the sole decider of what is and isn’t a catch, of what calls will and won’t be overturned on replay. Every Sunday, Monday and Thursday, he sits in the NFL’s Command Center in New York watching video of key plays and “advising” referees on replay decisions.

So what was Blandino looking at when the ball was batted out of the end zone in Seattle? Did he idly watch seconds tick away in the San Diego game when the clock should have been stopped? The only purpose of replay and the multimillion-dollar Command Center is to get calls right. But the one man with access to the screens and to the on-field officials stayed silent.

The NFL has been content to say, “It’s not reviewable,” and move on. Hogwash! Less than 48 hours after the Steelers-Chargers game two weeks ago, I watched Game 5 of the ALDS, and MLB umpires were faced with an extremely unusual play. It may not have been “reviewable,” but you better believe the umpiring crew chief was on the headset to MLB’s Command Center. Ultimately, they got the call right which is what the players and fans deserve.

Also, the evaluation system for the officials needs to be updated. Currently, supervisors spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday grading games, breaking down every play by every official. It is time consuming and lacks return on investment. In reality, there are four or five plays of significance from an officiating standpoint during each game. That’s it. If the NFL shifted its focus to identifying and breaking down those key plays, the task would be complete in one day. This would allow more time for supervisors to prepare video and rule review that is tailored to each officials’ position and their responsibilities.

Additionally, greater focus and resources are needed on training – especially for first- and second-year officials as the League has experienced a 20% turnover in the past two years. It used to be that NFL Europe provided an excellent training ground for new officials, but that is long gone.

Officials across all sports are expected to get everything right – but there will be a small fraction of human error with thousands of plays each and every week. Being an official at the highest level is a tough job, and it is a privilege that each of us worked decades to achieve. Officials who miss calls should be downgraded, and if mistakes are repeatedly made over time, the official should be released. That’s something we can all agree on.

So, instead of rhetoric about how singling out officials or strong-arming them as a group to accept more discipline will fix the problems, I respectfully suggest the NFL take the time to evaluate how its Officiating Department is administered. Let’s strengthen the system for evaluations and training. And on the rare occasion that its prized Command Center can catch and correct a mistake of significance, I’m sure the men and women on the field supervising the organized chaos that is occurring on NFL game day would greatly appreciate a friendly call.