Replacement Officials to Start Season

I always start my Sundays asking two questions. One: Which game is Gus Johnson calling?  Two: Which game is Ed Hochuli officiating? 

We are all going to miss the gun show.

Well I can scratch number two off of that list because well… he won’t be officiating.  At least not at the start of the season.  None of the usual officials will because the NFL won’t give them a small pay raise.

We all know the ongoing battle between the NFL and its officials.  The officials want more money.  The NFL said we’ll use replacement officials.  The replacement officials are not very good.  The fans are unhappy.  Why the NFL would pick this situation to lay down the iron fist is baffling to me, but who am I anyway.

One of the biggest reasons that this battle baffles me is the fact that the NFL is so “concerned” about player safety.  If (big if) the NFL was so concerned about player safety, then why would they be rolling out officials that don’t even know which way to stand to make a call let alone make a judgment call on a helmet-to-helmet hit at game speed?  It doesn’t make much sense to me and it surely isn’t going over well PR wise. 

The whole player safety ordeal was a PR move in the first place.  The NFL knows that violence is a part of the game and the violence is what sells the league.  With revenues around $9 billion, does the NFL really want to change?

For players to be “safe”, the game would need to undergo a revolutionary transformation that, understandably, nobody wants to do.  But the NFL should be doing all they can in their power to keep the players as safe as possible under the current pretences.  Giving in to the demands of the referees would be a great start.