NEWS that the NFL referees’ union rejected the league’s latest contract proposal, ensuring replacement officials will work at least the opening weekend of the regular season, was greeted by a collective “ho hum,” by the Giants yesterday.
The defending NFC champions open their season Monday night in Denver, and are far more concerned about the Broncos and playing in their new Invesco Field than who will wear the black-and-white striped shirts.
“I’ve got so many things on my plate,” Giants head coach Jim Fassel said after yesterday’s workout at Giants Stadium. “My focus is on the game and the strategy and all those things. And that’s the way it is with my team.”
If the referees’ union was hoping for some sympathy from the NFL players and coaches, it can forget it. Gauging from the Giants’ reaction yesterday, the regular refs won’t be missed when the games start for real.
It’s like when a kid in class gets a substitute teacher. He tests the limits of authority to see if he can get away with more than usual. That’s going to happen this weekend, offering an intriguing element to Week 1.
“Last week, there were things happening in the trenches that I think a normal referee might have seen,” Giants guard Glenn Parker said of the final preseason game, which was worked by the replacement refs. “There was tripping, hands to the face, there was holding, all sorts of things.
“It’s not to say [the replacements] won’t see it this week because the more the replacement officials get the speed of the game, they will see things. But that first week was tough on them.”
Lomas Brown, a savvy 17-year veteran, plans to make the replacements feel welcome, though his motives are self-serving.
“Absolutely, I’m going to be politicking,” Brown said. “I’m going to greet every referee. If they don’t know who I am, I’m going to make sure they get to know who I am before the game.”
If the regular officials are hoping they’ll be missed this weekend, they have a warped perception of their importance, much like those baseball umpires who resigned and wished they hadn’t. Sports are about the players who play the games; everyone else is along for the ride.
“As I told our media, they’d be playing this game if the coaches were on strike,” Denver coach Mike Shanahan said.
In today’s economic climate when families across the country are stung by job layoffs and shrinking paychecks, the refs’ rejection of an immediate 60 percent raise for working a 16-game regular-season is ludicrous, especially when you can be so easily replaced.
It has been suggested the refs’ position might be strengthened if a quarterback is injured because of a late hit or a blown call affects the outcome of a game. But those types of things occur often with the regular refs. That’s why the NFL instituted instant replay.
“Actually, the game [the replacements] did in Baltimore for us, for the most part, they made all good calls,” Fassel said. “They didn’t miss much.”
In retrospect, the purging of the ego-driven baseball umpires was a good thing. Football might need to clean house, too.
The regular refs blew their first call by not agreeing to a new contract before the season starts. They’ll be lucky to be granted a replay.