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NFL officiating is under a microscope unlike any before. With more television cameras and camera technology in stadiums than ever before, and the proliferation of clips of controversial calls on social media, league referees face scrutiny like never before.
On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the league’s officials at Super Bowl LVIII media availability in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I think in the NFL, the level of scrutiny, is the highest I’ve ever seen, and that’s part of our popularity. I understand that. It’s part of the technology. You (the media) all do such a great job, that you see more than you could ever see (on television) in officiating. The game is faster. I think our officials do a great job. They are superior. But at the end of the day, no one’s perfect, whether it’s all of us that watches the games or play the games or coach the games or the officials. We have to continue to try to get better. We have to work to use technology where we can to try to improve their performance. Let them use technology to make sure they get the right answer. But I think they do an incredible job, but we’re gonna keep working to get better ultimately.
I actually think that’s a pretty fair answer by Roger Goodell, to be honest. He is absolutely correct in his implication that it’s never been tougher to be an NFL official. Think of all the different rules and technicalities they now must enforce compared to even twenty years ago. It’s significantly complicated their job, at a time when players are bigger, faster, and stronger than ever before, leading to the game being faster.
Plus, as he pointed out, not only is the game happening faster and faster with more difficult rules to enforce, but the average viewer at home has never had access to as many high-quality replays from every angle imaginable as they do now. We know pretty instantly whether a call was correct or incorrect, but that’s an unfair standard to hold referees to in real time. They’re only seeing the play from one angle, the angle they’re looking at it.
Admittedly, the last thing that the league needs is an officiating controversy at Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday. Last year’s Super Bowl LVIII was essentially iced by a defensive holding penalty on the Philadelphia Eagles, allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to take nearly all the time off the clock before kicking the go-ahead field goal and winning, 38-35.