NFL & Refs Talks Ongoing, Obama Wants Refs Back

With NFL replacement refereees job being scrutinised the league and representatives for its locked-out referees were negotiating in an effort to end their dispute, according to several people familiar with the talks.

The talks already had been scheduled before Monday night’s controversy, one person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.

That person said he didn’t believe the furor would have a significant impact on the negotiations. Talks have been ongoing.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and league attorney Jeff Pash were among the participants in Tuesday’s negotiations, another person said.

The league and NFL Referees Association have been at odds over salaries, pensions and non-economic issues. Several people familiar with the negotiations have said in recent days that pensions have emerged as the top issue separating the two sides. The referees have been asking for an annual contribution of $38,500 per official to their pension plan, which the NFL considers too generous for part-time employees, according to one person with knowledge of the talks.

One person familiar with the negotiations said Monday, before the controversy in Seattle, that a deal was unlikely this week but could be within reach next week. But even that was uncertain, the person said.

A former NFL front-office executive said Tuesday he remained skeptical that the public outcry over the missed call Monday night would lead the NFL to make major concessions in the negotiations with the locked-out referees to get them back on the field.

“They are a reactive group,” the former executive said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “They do react to what’s on the (television) networks, what’s in the newspapers. But with money, they can dig in. They consider this group they’re dealing with (the referees) to be unreasonable. I don’t think they’ll cave in. They’ll compromise, but they won’t cave in.”

Former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker said an erroneous call by the replacements that decided a game was bound to happen sooner or later.

“I think the biggest shame of it is that anybody with half a brain could see this coming,” said Tucker, who played for Washington, Dallas, Buffalo and New England. “If you watched the preseason games, if you watched the first two weeks of regular season games, it was inevitable.”

Tucker said he thinks the controversy could spur a resolution between the league and the regular officials.

“I do think they’ll get something done in the next few days because of the pressure,” Tucker said. “But it’s so frustrating, because why did it have to come to this? This could have been done last week. Maybe the league was hoping this wouldn’t happen, or it wouldn’t be this bad if it did happen. But you could see it coming from a mile away. They could have avoided this train wreck and yet they chose not to.”

Even United States president, Barack Obama deemed the situation “terrible” and declaring it was time to get regular officiating crews back on the job.

“I’ve been saying for months we’ve got to get our refs back,” Obama said as he returned to the White House from an appearance before the United Nations. In a tweet that went out under his initials, Obama said: “NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs’ lockout is settled soon.”