Full Time Officials

Now that the NFL, and its fans, have realized that referees can make mistakes in big games, the call for full-time officials seems to be hitting a crescendo. And surprisingly, a call for calm making some very solid arguments, comes from a Seattle Times writer, John Boyle. Boyle quotes the NFL’s Aaron Pointer (an evaluator of officials) as saying: “There’s a human element involved, and when that’s involved, there are going to be some questions in judgment. All of these guys know the rules. Spending more time on that won’t make a difference.”

The major reason why full-time officials won’t make a noticeable difference is that the only way for an individual to improve in officiating is to officiate more — just as the only way to improve any skill is to do it more. But, there are no more games to officiate in the NFL during the week. The current crop of officials, if they were made full-time, couldn’t officiate more, and if they spent the week studying tape or studying the rules, it will only have a minor impact on their skills, and it won’t improve their judgment one bit.

Lastly, next time someone brings up the argument that full-time officials are the solution to the NFL’s officiating problem, remind them that the NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball all have full-time officials, and how’s that working out? There were no controversies regarding umpiring during the World Series, right?