Don’t Blame the NFL Replacement Refs and Owners; Blame “The Union”

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Don’t Blame the NFL Replacement Refs and Owners; Blame “The Union”
By: Todd M. Schoenberger, @TMSchoenberger

Oh, the anger! The complaints! The act of throwing your shoe at the television! Any idea what I’m talking about? The NFL replacement refs, of course!

Funny, but only half of the NFL fans seem to be unhappy with these replacement refs, while the other half think they’re the best thing since the chicken wing was discovered. Simply put, if you’re on the losing end of the scoreboard, you want blood. If you’re on the winning side, the replacements refs are your new BFF.

The brouhaha is about “poor” officiating and the ridiculous comment about the “integrity” of the game. Seriously? A sport that recently had to deal with bounties, gambling, domestic abuse and criminal behavior is worried about the “integrity” because a couple of humans running around in zebra stripes are making a few bad calls? Gimme a break.

But since this is a country that loves to point fingers and pass the accountability check to the next guy, let’s look at who the real fools are in this debate: The NFL Referees Association; better known as “the union.”

Here are the numbers I want you to consider: In 2011, an NFL ref in his first year made an average of $78,000. An NFL ref in his fifth year earned an average of $115,000. And, the fella who is seasoned and been there for ten years earned $139,000. For those who qualify and make it to postseason play, refs earn substantially more.

And, oh yeah, this is for part-time work.

Add in the fact that the refs have ALL of their expenses paid for (hotel, travel, meals), this isn’t a bad weekend job and one that I’m sure many of you would love to have. Yet, “the union” says give us more!

So, the NFL being the kinder, gentler folks that they are offered an annual pay increase between 5 and 11 percent for each individual official. To break it down to real numbers, again, the average pay for an NFL game official in 2011 was $149,000. Under the new proposal, the salary would increase to $189,000 by 2018.

Yeah, and this is for part-time work!

Can you think of a greedier group (other than the New Jersey Teachers Association)? Yet, NFL fans are yapping and yelling that the replacement refs are awful. Sure, they may not be qualified, but is it really their fault “the union” has put them in this position? No.

For average NFL fans who say “just pay them” and try to use the “safety of the game” argument are naïve and out of touch. The average ticket price to watch an NFL game in 2011 was $77.34. The average pay per game for an NFL referee was $7,450. If you think your experience is being devalued, blame the ‘real’ refs for it.

The reality of the situation is even if the NFL owners caved-in and gave “the union” everything it wanted the refs would come back seven years later pulling the same nonsense. It’s a part-time job, and a relatively easy one in the sports entertainment world. Or, to be blunt for the ‘real’ refs: Get back to work!