BACKUP PLAN: NFL replacement officials, here in discussion with Bucs coach Greg Schiano in a preseason game, will work the Giants-Cowboys game tonight at MetLife Stadium. (AP)
It appears to be official — the NFL will go with replacement officials.
Any hopes the league would lift its lockout of the regular referees in time for tonight’s season opener between the Giants and Cowboys at MetLife Stadium were dashed when no talks were held between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association this week.
The dispute now appears to have settled into a high-stakes game of chicken, with the owners seemingly hoping the fill-in refs won’t embarrass themselves and the regular officials hoping a crucial mistake in a big game will bring the league back to the bargaining table.
“The officials apparently think we cannot play football without them,” a high-ranking league source said.
The dispute centers mainly on the number of crews and the league’s desire to eliminate pensions for the refs. The owners appear so determined to prevail, they will use inexperienced stand-in officials — at least for one game — even though the money in dispute is trivial relative to the NFL’s $9 billion in annual revenues.
The league’s stance is strong despite a gaffe-filled exhibition season by the fill-in refs that prompted widespread ridicule from players, former players and even some coaches willing to defy the league’s orders to avoid criticizing the replacements.
One of the replacement officials, Shannon Eastin, would become the first woman to officiate a regular-season NFL game Sunday if the stalemate isn’t settled before she works the Lions-Rams game in Detroit.
Unable to raid the large college conferences for replacements, the league has been forced to hire rejects and retirees from small conferences, the Arena Football League and even a ref reportedly fired by the Lingerie Football League to take the regular officials’ place. Another stand-in called six-man high school games before catching on as a replacement after the lockout began June 3.
As a result, the NFL is expected to go with an eight-man crew (meaning one additional ref) for all games until the labor fight is settled.
NFL VP of officiating Ray Anderson told NBC, which is broadcasting tonight’s game, the crews are getting an extra official “to ensure they make good decisions, both before and after the whistle.”
Reports of a breakthrough in the talks last weekend proved unfounded, resulting in claims by the league that the refs had walked away from an apparent agreement and by the NFLRA that the owners had blindsided them with an untenable ultimatum.
As a result, the NFL will use replacement officials for the second time since 2001, when they had stand-ins throughout the preseason and for the first game of the regular season before the 9/11 attacks led to a resolution soon afterward.
The regular refs are hoping a few crucial mistakes when the TV lights are brightest will soften the owners’ resolve this time around.
“It continues to mystify any objective observer of the situation why the NFL would jeopardize the safety of its players, the integrity of the game and the quality of its product in order to continue its attack on its professional referees,” NFLRA attorney Michael Arnold said in a statement.