NFL referee union director releases statement amid heated labor negotiations

NFL replacement refs may be making a comeback.

Amid reportedly bitter negotiations between the league and the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA), the officials’ union executive director, Scott Green, put out a statement that paints a rather contentious picture.

“Apparently ‘League sources’ are continuing to put out false and misleading information instead of wanting to meet at the negotiating table,” Green said [h/t NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero]. “The bottom line is our officials work for the wealthiest sports league in America, with profits that far exceed any of the others. That’s normally a point of pride for the NFL. However, our officials are substantially under-compensated when compared to baseball and basketball umpires and referees. Our officials also aren’t provided the health care benefits that those at 345 Park Avenue have.

“As far as performance pay, we had ‘high performing officials’ who worked this year’s Championship games and the Super Bowl who were paid less for those games than what they were paid for a regular season game. That certainly isn’t rewarding performance, as the NFL claims is their goal.”

The last time the referees’ union went on strike was in 2012, the league hastily hired replacement refs, and it delivered one of the most infamous moments in NFL history.

On September 24, 2012, during the final play of a ‘Monday Night Football’ game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, a pair of replacements gave opposing signals while attempting to rule whether a Seahawks Hail Mary was caught for a touchdown or an interception. They eventually came together and determined that both players had caught it, which defaults to a catch and, in this case, a game-winning touchdown. Unfortunately, they missed an offensive pass interference immediately before then.

Two days later, the league and NFLRA ended their labor dispute.

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