Red Flags For NFL: Referees & Bounty Evidence
One of the most thankless jobs in sports: The NFL Official. NFL Officials do more than just throw flags and walk off penalties. They spot for concussions and do their best to ensure player safety. That's why the NFL's latest fight is so critical.
The NFL is in the midst of looking for potential replacement officials as the league negotiates a new deal with the current referees. The league used replacement officials for 2 weeks during their last contract negotiation in 2001. .
Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com joins The Norris & Davis Show each Thursday morning at 8am on Baltimore's 105-7 THE FAN. Florio said the league should want to blow any dark clouds associated with these negotiations off the horizon, 'I don't think that the league should just casually ditch the regular officials and bring in replacements if the league's goal is to enhance player safety. The NFLPA hasn't said anything about this specific dispute yet but I can't imagine that the players would want anything but the best of the best officials. It's something to keep an eye on but we're still 4 months from the start of the season.'
When asked about fallout from the NFL bounty scandal and the lack of evidence the league has provided regarding Saints players penalized in the mess, Florio responded, 'I gotta huge issue with this. The NFL is more than willing to make conclusions and offer summaries of evidence and point fingers through press releases and media leaks. But, when the time comes to put evidence on the table the NFL won't do it.'
Listen to the entire interview here:
Podcast
Florio does not believe that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell should be judge, jury & executioner in any or all controversy. An independent examiner is needed. 'At some point, if you're going to have a meaningful process, you have to give the people accused of any wrong doing the evidence on which you're relying. "Take our word for it" is not good enough,' Florio said.
