NFL could be bringing back disastrous ‘replacement refs’

One of the biggest embarrassments of the past few decades of professional football was the NFL using “replacement referees.”

In 2012, the league was unable to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Referees Association. That led to a “lockout” that went 110 days and lasted three weeks into the 2012 regular season.

Terrifyingly, with the current CBA due to expire at the end of May, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert is reporting that replacement refs could be on their way back.

“According to the emails, the league is looking for a list of about 150 mostly small college officials by the end of this weekend,” Seifert reported on Wednesday. “Those officials could begin onboarding as early as April then attend a four-day clinic in May. Absent a CBA agreement, they would continue training through the summer and make visits to training camps before the regular season begins.”

The replacement refs were a disaster, and that’s not meant as a slight to them. They were literally unqualified for the job. These were referees from the high school and lower collegiate levels, with a few sprinkled in from the Arena Football League or Legends Football League.

It was a disaster that culminated in the now-infamous “Fail Mary” game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.