NFL Prepared To Move Forward With Replacement Officials In 2012

Last offseason, we spent almost every day hearing about the legal battles and negotiations between the NFL and the players, which led to a long lockout, but eventually ended well. This offseason the same thing is happening, but this time between the league and its officials.

Reports have come out saying that talks have broken off and that the league is getting ready to hire replacement referees.

Does this worry you at all?

We know that the actual league officials are a solid group overall. But they are far from perfect and have messed more than a few games with their mistakes (which happens -- players mess up games every week with their mistakes).

Granted, thanks to replay, many of those mistakes get fixed.

But are you concerned? The league would be looking at retired college refs, Arena League refs, small college refs. Are these the guys that you want making calls with millions of people watching?

If you are ok with this, then think about this. They wouldn't do a better job. If you have issues with NFL officiating, get ready for more issues. The league trains its refs well and hires the best. These other officials aren't already in the NFL because most of them aren't good enough.

So are you ready for replacement refs?

I'm not.

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