There are many NFL officiating issues. In championship weekend, there were multiple officiating blunders that are unacceptable. I am not saying this as a fan of any of the teams that played. I am saying this as a fan of football. However, I am not one to complain about something unless I can offer solutions. Here are 3 potential solutions for the NFL officiating issues.
Solution For NFL Officiating Issues #1: Tracking Chip In The Ball
This seems like the easiest potential solution. We can track basically everything else in this world, so why can we not track a football? Soccer has the technology that can tell whether the ball has gone completely over the goal line. It seems like the NFL should adopt this for goal-line plays and marking the ball. This takes out questionable spots and can help speed up the game. This one seems like a no-brainer.
Solution For NFL Officiating Issues #2: Replay For Clear Calls
The game of football is hard to officiate. It is fast and many of the penalties are judgment calls. Holding, pass interference, roughing the passer, illegal contact, and many more are all calls with some wiggle room. Unfortunately, these judgment calls are going to be hard to fix. The NFL tried to make pass interference reviewable but it just didn’t work. We are going to have to live with these calls. What frustrates me is how we can miss clear calls. This is where I think the NFL could easily have a replay official that watches for missed or botched calls.
Let me give an example. A running back bounces to the outside and the defender clearly grabs his facemask. We see it on every replay easily. However, the officials on the field don’t see it because they are watching 50 other things. A replay official could easily see the replay instantly, radio down the officials to throw a flag, and boom, no missed call. We have access to a thousand camera angles and some give a very clear picture of what happens in a play. Having a dedicated team of replay officials who can radio down to the field would help get more calls correct.
Solution For NFL Officiating Issues #3: Make Refs Full Time
Yes, refs are paid handsomely but it is still a part-time job. They do not have benefits meaning that many have to work other jobs to have access to certain benefits. For part-time, your energy is not fully into that job because you have to focus elsewhere as well. Even if you want to fully invest yourself, your attention is divided. The NFL should want their refs to be fully invested in the game. If they were to make refs full-time, the offseason could be used to study film and improve the craft instead of going to work another unrelated job. The NFL has the money. They can easily make this happen.
There are other solutions out there but these are 3 solutions for NFL officiating issues that I think could be easily implemented. Something has to change or the NFL will find itself with a huge problem on its hands.
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