NFL to hire up to 24 full-time game officials for 2017
 

NFL to hire up to 24 full-time game officials for 2017

By Around The NFL staff NFL.com
Published: Aug. 9, 2017 at 03:35 p.m. Updated: Aug. 9, 2017 at 03:42 p.m.
Full-time game officials will be on the field this season.

The NFL will hire up to 24 full-time game officials for 2017 season from current crop of 124 officials, the league and the NFL Referees Association announced Wednesday.

The NFL and the NFLRA agreed to experiment with full-time officials as part of the last collective bargaining agreement and the NFLRA approved the move. The program will allow current officials to apply to become full-time.

"We believe this is a great development for NFL officiating overall and ultimately the quality of our game," said Troy Vincent, NFL executive vice president of football operations, in a statement. "We share a common goal, which is to make our game as great as it can possibly be, and look forward to working together on this new effort."

Full-time officials will be hired at each of the seven officiating positions.

The league believes the move to 21-24 full-time officials will enhance communication between officials working on and off the field during games. It also will give the league's officiating department a chance to work with the NFLRA in identifying effective ways to utilize off-field time for full-time game officials throughout the calendar year.

"NFL officials are always looking to improve, and we believe that additional time, particularly in the offseason, will be positive," said Scott Green, executive director of the NFLRA. "We're looking forward to working together with the league on this effort."

About time.

Not sure what difference it's going to make?

Fans are still going to bitch when a call go against their team. Humans are human

They will still suck ass.

It won't matter, they have made the rules so ****ing subjective (what is a catch, what is hitting someone too hard, what is a hold) that we will see the same exact BS we've been enjoying so much the last 5-8 years.

If they really gave a shit, the NFL would have done this decades ago.

24 of them need prescription glasses.

As long as they keep selectively enforcing the rules, they will suck.

The fact that it took this long is a shame. Let's hope it doesn't take another fifty years to get better results.

One full-time official per crew...big ****ing deal. He'll answer to the same masters that the part-time officials will.

There is no independent oversight committee in the NFL hierarchy...this changes nothing. The owners own the refs...and there is nothing illegal in fixing outcomes. NFL can do whatever it wants with impunity...

Window-dressing horseshit to appease stupid people who are ignorant to the sham.

When fixing NFL outcomes become illegal...then I'll give a shit.

People...to this day...still have no idea that the NFL is an entertainment corporation. They are under no legal obligation to even follow their own rule book...it's a sweet racket. They just keep making the rules more blurred...to the point people say "I dont even know what a catch is anymore".

If anything..full time officials just creates a fall guy/patsy outlet. They have to sign a confidentiality agreement before even becoming a ref....people should stop and think about that. Why would that prerequisite even be necessary?

They cant say ANYTHING publicly about what happens behind closed doors...

NFL will NEVER allow holding and PI calls to be reviewable...it's how they control the outcomes.

What took so long? They will suck, too.

Ed Hoculi's muscles just got bigger.

Where do I sign up?

To my understanding, this is much ado about nothing. Nothing changes for the refs for the most part. They keep their union, they still don't get benefits, they keep their real jobs etc. The only difference is that they're now on call when the NFL wants them.

This is per Mike Pereira during a radio interview.

I'm not sure why anyone would expect a "full time" official to be better than the current group.

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Sure hope they can afford it.