Full Time Officials

[younggun]

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/goodell-nfl-full-time-officials-15365876

[JasonTX]

How much more full time can an official get?  All the hours that officials put in during the season as well as offseason is as full time as it can get.  I guess putting them in an office reviewing film vs viewing the same film from home will make it more "official" as being full time.

[Rulesman]

A bigger question is how many of the current "part-timers" would be willing to give up their day job? While all of these guys make pretty good "part-time" money, I would venture to say a vast majority of the select 10 would be relinquishing a substantial chunk of "day job" change.

[Headlinesman]

Understand the NFL has LOTS of money, but the officials would have to be paid substantially to give up their day job AND relocate to the New York City area.

[TampaSteve]

To my understanding, the NFL Owners were always historically against officials becoming full time employees.

[cincybearcat]

so this is actually a different take than we've heard on this "issue" in years before.  Take maybe one guy from each crew and stick him in a film room 40 hours a week???  My take on this has always been that officials in MLB/NBA/NHL are full time because they HAVE to be due to travel.  And I've never really been of the opinion that making NFL officials full time will lead to better officiating.  These guys are so good and experienced, and deticate so much of their time already to rules/film study, that the only thing that could make them better is seeing more snaps at game speed.  And those snaps don't exist except on Sunday's.

[busman]

I've always contended NFL should have full-time officials.  Pay $75,000 to $100,000 per year.  March, April, May and June are conditioning, study and vacation months and any of the Arena, Europe, etc. that the NFL is involved with.  July is training camp month, August thru January work Sunday, off Monday, Tuesday is travel morning to one of four regional centers, Tuesday afternoon reviews of last weekend, conditioning and training room with atheltic trainers.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning consist of film study, and physical conditioning. Friday afternoon is travel, Saturday is pre-game. Obvious adjustmetns for non-Sunday games. 

[Rulesman]

I've always contended NFL should have full-time officials.  Pay $75,000 to $100,000 per year.  March, April, May and June are conditioning, study and vacation months and any of the Arena, Europe, etc. that the NFL is involved with.  July is training camp month, August thru January work Sunday, off Monday, Tuesday is travel morning to one of four regional centers, Tuesday afternoon reviews of last weekend, conditioning and training room with atheltic trainers.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning consist of film study, and physical conditioning. Friday afternoon is travel, Saturday is pre-game. Obvious adjustmetns for non-Sunday games.

Some of the veterans make half that much now. I find it hard to believe $75-100k and asking them to give up (in many cases) a 6-figure income from their day job is going to entice very many to bite.

[busman]

I think the average age wil be more in the low 30's and with the intense training they can get, it will make up for their lack of years.  It's all about repetition.

[JasonTX]

Imagine giving up your real job to become a full time NFL official.  Then get axed over some calls.  Now you are stuck without a job.  Is it worth the risk?

[Rulesman]

Imagine giving up your real job to become a full time NFL official.  Then get axed over some calls.  Now you are stuck without a job.  Is it worth the risk?

Flip the coin over and ask a MLB umpire or an NBA guy. Then again, their season is a hell of a lot longer than the NFL and it's really comparing apples and oranges.

[gezza67]

I read somewhere the only reason NFL Officials aren't fulltime is because they only work 1 game per week because obviously NFL is only  played Sunday/Monday, with the exception of of Midweek games towards the end of the Season, Whereas NBA,NHL and MLB Games are played week day evenings.

[Osric Pureheart]

Flip the coin over and ask a MLB umpire or an NBA guy. Then again, their season is a hell of a lot longer than the NFL and it's really comparing apples and oranges.

Unless I'm mistaken, aren't baseball umpires full-time below MLB?

In soccer in England we have the situation where only the few best-of-the-best referees are full-time (they can expect to earn at least £60,000 a year) and it definitely does have an effect on the number of people who are willing to go all the way.   It's at the point where ex-top referees are practically obliged to either take a within-football (as some kind of assessor or development officer) or a media job after retiring (there's no age limits any more but the fitness requirements mean it's extremely hard to keep going past about 50), because unless they have a very understanding employer, becoming a top referee means a career break of at least 10 years.  There's no question that it puts people off.

[HLinNC]

Most of these NFL guys are high achiever types- Hochuli has a successful law practice, Carey owns his own company.  While I'm sure their jobs allow them the freedom to spend time away to travel and study and review film, I doubt many would walk away from their career unless they are financially suited to do so.  In fact, there is nothing stopping any of them from quitting their "day job" now if they wanted to dedicate all their time to their secondary employment.

Peter King mentioned just this past week how Gene Steratore is also a D1 NCAA basketball official and how much he worked last week.  It would be interesting to see what choice he would make if forced to do so.

[Joe Stack]

AND relocate to the New York City area.

Nobody would be required to relocate. They would work as they do now -- online, phone, and in person at game cities. I also seriously doubt they would be have mid-week duties other than personal film review, tests, online/phone meetings and conditioning. For one, they wouldn't spend the entire season away from home and for another, technology makes it unnecessary. More than likely, they'd arrive on Friday mid-day for a Sunday game and leave Monday mid-day. Adjust that for other game days. Once or twice a season a crew would have a Sunday-Thursday set of games -- something like in Seattle (or Atlanta) for Sunday and San Fran (or Tampa/NO/Charlotte/Nashville, etc.) for Thursday.

[JasonTX]

Nobody would be required to relocate. They would work as they do now -- online, phone, and in person at game cities. I also seriously doubt they would be have mid-week duties other than personal film review, tests, online/phone meetings and conditioning. For one, they wouldn't spend the entire season away from home and for another, technology makes it unnecessary. More than likely, they'd arrive on Friday mid-day for a Sunday game and leave Monday mid-day. Adjust that for other game days. Once or twice a season a crew would have a Sunday-Thursday set of games -- something like in Seattle (or Atlanta) for Sunday and San Fran (or Tampa/NO/Charlotte/Nashville, etc.) for Thursday.

What you stated is pretty much how it already happens during the season.  If the story is accurate, it would appear they want 10 guys to work in New York. 

"NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the proposal would bring a group of officials to the league offices in New York to help review game films and evaluate the calls."