National Football League
Roundup: Scoop on NFL ref madness
National Football League

Roundup: Scoop on NFL ref madness

Published Sep. 25, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

GLAZER: REFS TO RETURN IN WEEK 4

NFL, refs reach agreement in time for Thursday night

The NFL and its locked-out officials agreed to terms on a new deal late Wednesday night which would put officials in place for this weekend’s games, according to sources close to the situation and later confirmed by both the NFL and the NFLRA. The deal will allow for the officials be on the field for Thursday night's game at Baltimore.

According to the sources, the final sticking point related to the much-discussed pension plan, but that stalemate finally ended.

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The sides are currently working on paperwork according to sources and at least half of the locked-out officials must approve the new deal, but sources said that is expected to be a formality when the vote takes place Friday. Full story >>

 


 

HERE COME THE MEA CULPAS

Tate finally admits pass interference

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate said Wednesday he fully admits to fouling the Green Bay Packers' Sam Shields when he shoved the defender to the ground before leaping to make the catch that gave his team a controversial 14-12 win on Monday night.

Tate earned himself the odd position of being viewed as a villain when he pulled in a 24-yard touchdown reception that gave Seattle the victory. Full story >>

 


 

HOLY (BLEEP)!

Packer's profanity breaks retweet record

Move aside, Justin Bieber and Floyd Mayweather, there's a new Twitter champion: Green Bay Packers offensive lineman T.J. Lang.

Following the Monday night officiating debacle on the final play that gave the Seattle Seahawks a 14-12 victory over the visiting Packers, Lang sent out what would become the most retweeted unsponsored post in Twitter history. Full story >>

 


 

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS ...

Casino offers refunds to 'MNF' bettors

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas casino took an unusual step Wednesday and offered refunds to gamblers who lost money when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers on a controversial touchdown at the end of Monday night's game.

Derek Stevens, owner of The D Las Vegas, seized on the attention being paid to the much-derided decision by replacement officials handling the NFL game and became the only casino in Las Vegas to offer refunds. Full story >>

NFL refs' call affects $300M+ in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas oddsmakers say $300 million or more changed hands worldwide on a controversial referee call that decided the Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks. Full story >>

 


 

PACKERS UNLOAD ON REFS

Report: Packers won't be fined for harsh tweets

Several Green Bay Packers players blasted the NFL and its replacement referees on Twitter after the team's controversial Monday night loss to the Seattle Seahawks, but those players will not be fined by the NFL, according to NFL Network's Steve Wyche.

McCarthy met with the media Tuesday with his sights set on the Packers' Sunday battle with the desperate 0-3 New Orleans Saints. Full story >>

Rodgers feels sorry for officials

With the Green Bay Packers taking a day off after losing in Seattle on a botched touchdown call that has taken the NFL world by storm, quarterback Aaron Rodgers' weekly radio show was a little more anticipated than usual Tuesday.

Immediately after Monday night's loss, both Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy chose their words carefully, but Rodgers was far more critical of the NFL and its replacement referees — if no less calculated — when talking to ESPN 540's Jason Wilde on Tuesday afternoon. Rodgers spoke for nearly eight minutes after an initial prompting from Wilde and had plenty to say. Full story >>

Composed coach still wants answers

Less than 24 hours had passed since the Packers' controversial loss in Seattle to the Seahawks, but coach Mike McCarthy was already attempting to move on from it.

McCarthy met with the media Tuesday with his sights set on the Packers' Sunday battle with the desperate 0-3 New Orleans Saints.

"Our players are passionate, they're emotional right now, understandably so, but it's time we start channeling our energy towards New Orleans," McCarthy said. "We've been in staff meetings all day today as a coaching staff in our preparation, and we'll bring the players in tomorrow for strength and conditioning in the morning." Full story >>

Perez: Players sound off on referee disaster

A few Green Bay Packers proved more lethal with their smartphones than their play in the immediate aftermath of Monday night’s controversial 14-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

"Got f---ed by the refs," said TJ Lang, part of a Packers line that allowed QB Aaron Rogers to be sacked eight times in the first half. "Embarrassing. Thanks NFL." Full story >>

 


 

LET THE MOCKING BEGIN

NFL official: 'Grandmoms' could have made right call

NFL field judge Boris Cheek said while the league and the regular officials are meeting, he doesn't know if the latest controversial call Monday night in the Green Bay-Seattle game will expedite the end of the lockout.

He said it wasn't a tough call, ''our grandmoms sitting at home can probably make that call.'' Full story >>

Green Bay news station uses replacement weather guy

Folks in Green Bay are rightfully outraged at the NFL over the finish of “Monday Night Football,” but one TV station has gotten creative in expressing its displeasure.

NBC 26 in Green Bay had a “replacement weather guy” give the weather report on Tuesday morning to mock the NFL’s use of replacement officials. Naturally, the replacement weather guy gave a vague and incompetent report, just like you would expect. Watch video >>

 


 

TWITTER-SPHERE BLOWS UP

Twitter catches fire after TD fiasco in Seattle

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Though Packers coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers handled their postgame press conferences with some restraint, the same was not true for a few of Green Bay's players on Twitter.

After the Packers lost on Monday night in Seattle against the Seahawks on a last-second hail-mary touchdown, a play that replays conclusively showed was called incorrectly by the NFL's replacement referees, tweets came pouring in from the locker room. Full story >>

 


 

NFL REACTS

League issues statement on final play

In Monday's game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, Seattle faced a 4th-and-10 from the Green Bay 24 with eight seconds remaining in the game.

Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a pass into the end zone. Several players, including Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings, jumped into the air in an attempt to catch the ball. Full story >>

 


 

WORST OF THE WORST

Ref hits club night after blowing call in 'MNF' game

Lance Easley joined the ranks of the most infamous officials in sports when he signaled touchdown on a Hail Mary pass by the Seahawks to end "Monday Night Football," leading to one of the biggest officiating debacles in NFL history. And how did Easley respond to becoming one of the most notorious — and in many cases despised — referees of all time? By hitting up a club the very next night?

George Takata, the sports director at KPGE CBS 47 in Fresno, reported on Twitter early Wednesday morning that Easley was out at Club Habanos — a bar/club in Fresno, Calif., on Tuesday night. Full story >>

NFL replacement officials' follies

It's every NFL official's goal — regular or replacement — to get through a game without becoming part of the story. Through three weeks of the season, however, the replacements are making more and more headlines as on-field performances seem to be regressing rather than improving. Clashes with coaches, embarrassing moments, confusion about rules and botched judgment calls have been commonplace. That culminated Monday night in the blown call that handed the Seahawks a victory over the Packers. That's merely one of the top officiating follies so far this season. We take a look. View gallery >>

Lingerie League fires refs serving as NFL replacements

The Lingerie Football League has done what many fans, players, coaches, and media members are waiting for the NFL to do: fire the replacement referees.

The LFL emailed the following statement to many media outlets including LBS to announce their decision to fire the referees they employ who were serving as replacement referees in the NFL: Full story >>

Officiating debacle leads to 'Call Me Maybe' parody

Just when you think Carly Rae Jepsen's one-hit wonder career had finally burned out and come to an end, the NFL replacement referees screwed things up — again.

The league's official nightmare continued Monday night with the "Fail Mary" in Seattle, a blown call that cost the Green Bay Packers dearly and gave the Seahawks a crucial win.

The only thing that would make things uglier would be a "Call Me Maybe" parody, right? Of course. And we now have one. Full story >>

 


 

HARSH TRUTHS OF NFL

Reiter: Keep taking a stand over refs

It’s time to stop waiting on the NFL to fix this debacle. Roger Goodell has shown he and his league are hell-bent on domination, not a deal.

It’s time to accept that the locked out officials have no reason to come back for anything less than their full demands. This circus is an absolute vindication for the argument they are essential to the game, and they now find themselves, courtesy of the owners who locked them out and the replacement referees who have mangled the job, in a position of absolute negotiating power. Full story >>

Whitlock: Ref stalemate is teachable moment

Professional football’s Dow Jones dropped 1,000 points at Monday night’s closing bell, the moment in-over-their-heads replacement refs handed the Seahawks an undeserved victory over the Packers.

If you never understood the ingredients that created the Wall Street subprime-mortgage financial collapse of 2008, the NFL is three weeks into an entry-level course that explains it all. Full story >>

Reiter: Goodell to blame for referee debacle

This, Roger Goodell, is what you’ve wrought: The low point of the NFL. A great big heaping pile of dog doo staining the shield. A multibillion-dollar game that has turned from national obsession to total mockery in a few short weeks.

Spurred by incompetent officials and a complicit commissioner, the league’s ongoing horror show with its replacement referees hit its nadir Monday night. Full story >>

Marvez: Wrestling with NFL's ref problem

In February, I stopped writing a syndicated pro wrestling column after 23 years to concentrate solely on covering the NFL.

Little did I know they would become one and the same thanks to the league's replacement referees. Full story >>

 


 

POLITICIANS JOIN THE OUTRAGE

Obama: NFL needs regular refs back

WASHINGTON (AP) — The embarrassing NFL referee saga and the disputed call that gave Seattle a victory over Green Bay Monday night has reached the campaign for the White House with President Barack Obama deeming it ''terrible'' and saying it was time to get the regulars back on the job.

''I've been saying for months we've got to get our refs back,'' Obama said as he returned to the White House from a United Nations appearance in New York. Full story >>

Gov. calls for return of union refs

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — If there's one thing that can unite political foes in Wisconsin, it just may be the Green Bay Packers.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who made a national name for himself by going after public employee unions last year, posted a message on Twitter calling for the return of the NFL's locked-out unionized officials after a disputed call led to a Seattle Seahawks 14-12 victory over the Packers on Monday night. Full story >>

State senator tweets Goodell's number

NEW YORK (AP) —One politician let his feelings be known after the wild ending of the Seattle Seahawks' 14-12 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night.

Wisconsin State Senator Jon Erpenbach tweeted NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's office phone number after the replacement officials mishandled the final play of the game. Full story >>

NJ Senate President trying to ban NFL replacement refs

According to John Brennan of NorthJersey.com, New Jersey state Senate President Stephen Sweeney has come out and said that he plans on introducing legislation prohibiting the playing of professional sporting events with replacement officials. The legislation will mention that the NFL is running the risk of increased injury because of how inexperienced the replacement officials have been. Full story >>

 


 

OTHER NFL PLAYERS CHIME IN ...

Brady: Replacement refs doing best

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Brady says replacement officials are doing their best and are not the reason for the outcomes of any of the Patriots' games.

New England's quarterback also said Tuesday he didn't see the call Monday night that resulted in Seattle's 14-12 victory over the Packers. Full story >>

 


 

... AND THE REST OF THE SPORTS WORLD

Dale Jr. weighs in on NFL ref fiasco

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an avid Washington Redskins fan and enjoys his fantasy football.

Like most NFL enthusiasts, the NASCAR star was confused by the controversial call that replacement officials made in Monday night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. Full story >>

Call costs Triple Crown hopeful in fantasy

DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera may win baseball’s first Triple Crown in 45 years, but his week began with a setback.

He has the Green Bay Packers defense in the Detroit Tigers’ fantasy football league.

Cabrera -- under the team name “Give Him His Due” -- was defeated by teammate Rick Porcello, 117-114, on the controversial final play of Monday night’s Packers-Seahawks game.

Cabrera apparently didn’t watch the game live. When asked to comment on the turn of events, he replied, “They can’t change the call now?” Full story >>

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