Why Are NFL Refs Part Time?
A look at why NFL referees are part time employees and how that affects their on-field performance.
The NFL’s part-time officials
The NFL has used part-time officials for decades, but why? The answer has to do with two things: money and control. The NFL likes to keep its officials part-time because it doesn’t want to pay them full-time wages and benefits. By keeping them part-time, the NFL can also keep a tighter leash on them.
Why are they part-time?
The NFL is a multi-billion dollar business and the officials are paid handsomely for their services. So, why are they considered part-time?
There are a few reasons. First, the NFL officiating schedule is not year-round. The regular season runs from September to December, and there are no games in January or February (with the exception of the Super Bowl). There are also no preseason games in August. So, for nearly half the year, these officials are not working.
Secondly, most officials have full-time jobs outside of football. For example, Clete Blakeman is an attorney in Omaha, Nebraska. Ed Hochuli is a partner in a Phoenix law firm. Jerome Boger is an administrator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Atlanta. In other words, these guys don’t need the NFL officiating gig to make ends meet — they do it because they love the game of football.
Lastly, it’s important to remember that officials are only human and they make mistakes just like everyone else. By keeping them part-time, the NFL can distance itself from them when they inevitably botch a call or two during the course of a season.
What are the benefits of being a part-time official?
Part-time NFL officials are paid big money for a relatively small time commitment. In return for working only a few days each week during the NFL season, these officials can earn an annual salary that puts them in the top 10% of all wage-earners in the United States.
In addition to their salaries, NFL officials also receive a number of other benefits, including:
-Paid travel expenses
-Paid hotel accommodations
-Per diem meal allowance
-Access to NFL events and tickets
-NFL pension plan
What are the drawbacks of being a part-time official?
Part-time officials also have to hold other jobs. For instance, Bill Vinovich is an officiating supervisor for the NFL and a real estate developer. Gene Steratore is an NBA referee and runs a box delivery business. Ed Hochuli is a partner in a law firm. John Parry is a vice president at a hospital.
Because they have other full-time jobs, they can’t devote as much time to preparation as full-time officials. They don’t live in an NFL city, so they can’t attend every meeting and training session that full-time officials do. They also don’t work every game as full-time officials do. For instance, Vinovich only worked 10 games this season as an on-field official.
The NFL’s full-time officials
The NFL has a number of full-time officials. There are four different types of officials: the umpire, head linesman, line judge, and back judge. Full-time officials work during the regular season and playoffs. They are also responsible for working at the NFL Combine and other offseason events.
Why are they full-time?
The National Football League officials are finally full-time employees of the league. For years, the NFL zebras held down other jobs during the week and then drove to games on the weekends. That meant they often missed days of work to officiate on Sundays.
Now, however, the NFL has seen fit to make its officials full-time employees. Why?
The answer likely has something to do with money. The NFL is a billion-dollar industry, and it seems only natural that the league would want its officials to be focused solely on their jobs.
In addition, full-time officials are likely to be more accurate in their calls. With so much on the line in an NFL game – millions of dollars in salaries, bonuses, and marketing – it only makes sense that the league would want its officials to be as sharp as possible.
There are also concerns about player safety. With so many huge athletes colliding on every play, it’s important that the officials are able to make quick, accurate decisions about whether a hit was legal or not. By making officials full-time employees, the NFL can better train them and ensure that they are up to the task of keeping players safe.
So there you have it: The NFL’s decision to make its officials full-time employees likely has something to do with money, accuracy, and player safety.
What are the benefits of being a full-time official?
The benefits of being a full-time official are many, and they extend well beyond the extra pay that comes with the job. For one thing, full-time officials are able to devote more time to scouting upcoming opponents and preparing for games. They also have more opportunities to attend offseason training camps and clinics, which helps them stay sharp and maintain their skills.
In addition, full-time officials are better able to manage their personal schedules and commitments, which makes it easier for them to be consistent in their officiating. They’re also less likely to miss games due to family or work obligations, which can sometimes be an issue for part-time officials.
Overall, being a full-time official is a great way to improve your officiating skills and earn a little extra money in the process. It’s important to remember, though, that becoming a full-time official is not an easy path. It takes hard work, dedication, and a willingness to sacrifice other aspects of your life in order to succeed.
What are the drawbacks of being a full-time official?
The biggest drawback of being a full-time official is the pay. NFL officials are paid on a part-time basis, and their salaries depends on their years of experience. In the 2013 season, the rookie salary was $78,000, while the most experienced referees, who had 21 or more years of experience, earned $173,000.
Another drawback is that full-time officials have to maintain other jobs to support themselves. This can make it difficult to commit the time necessary to officiate NFL games.
The NFL’s officiating problems
The NFL is facing a officiating crisis. A big part of the problem is that the referees are part-time employees. In the past, most officials were full-time employees of the NFL. They worked other jobs during the week and officiated games on the weekends. But that changed in 2001 when the NFL switched to using part-time officials.
The officiating problems in the NFL
The National Football League has a long-standing tradition of employing part-time officials. While most full-time officials in other professional sports leagues are paid an annual salary, NFL officials are paid on a per-game basis. In the offseason, they typically have other full-time employment.
This system creates several officiating problems for the NFL. First, it can be difficult for officials to devote the necessary time to stay in top physical condition and to keep up with the rule changes each year. Second, because they are not full-time employees of the league, NFL officials are not subject to the same level of scrutiny and accountability as other professional referees.
This lack of accountability has led to a number of officiating controversies in recent years. In 2012, for example, an NFL official was suspended for making racist comments on a social media website. And in 2013, an official was caught on camera making an obscene gesture toward a player.
The NFL has taken steps to address these officiating problems. In 2014, the league began hiring full-time officials to work alongside the part-timers. And in 2017, the NFL launched its Official Review Program, which gives coaches and players the opportunity to review officiating decisions via video replay.
Despite these measures, however, some critics argue that the officiating woes plaguing the NFL are unlikely to be resolved until the league makes a commitment to hiring only full-time officials.
The benefits of having full-time officials
The National Football League is the most popular and profitable sports leagues in the world. In large part, this is because it has successfully cultivated a product that is entertaining and easy to consume. There are, of course, many contributing factors to the NFL’s entertainment value – but one of the most important is officiating.
While other leagues have transitioned to full-time officials, the NFL has resisted this change. There are many reasons for this, but the most often cited is cost. The NFL is a billionaire-dollar industry, and yet it still pays its officials an average of only $173,000 per year. In contrast, Major League Baseball umpires make an average of $500,000 per year, and NBA referees make an average of $375,000 per year.
The NFL argues that its officials are already highly-trained professionals who don’t need to be full-time employees. And yet, we regularly see officiating errors that range from mildly frustrating to enormously consequential. In the 2018 NFC Championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, a crucial non-call late in the game helped swing momentum in the Rams’ favor and ultimately led to their victory. The league later admitted that the officials had made a mistake.
This kind of error is maddening for fans because it’s so avoidable. If NFL officials were full-time employees, they would have more time to study rules changes and hone their on-field decision making. They would also be held accountable in a way that they currently are not; right now, bad officiating can be chalked up to human error, but if officials were full-time employees there would be greater pressure on them to perform at a high level.
The NFL has successfully built itself into a juggernaut by selling a product that is entertaining and easy to consume. But if it wants to maintain its status as the premier sports league in the world, it needs to start treating officiating as the important part of the game that it is.
The drawbacks of having part-time officials
Many NFL fans are angry about the officiating this season. They’re not wrong to be frustrated. The league’s officiating problems are real and they stem from a simple cause: The officials are part-time employees.
Yes, you read that correctly. The NFL’s referees, umpires, head linesmen and line judges all have other full-time jobs. Many of them are high school teachers or managers at large companies. And while they might work 40 hours a week at their day jobs, they also spend 20 to 30 hours a week training for their NFL duties.
The part-time nature of the job means that the officials are often out of practice and rusty when the season starts. It also means that they’re not as available to the league for training and development purposes. That can lead to mistakes on the field, as we’ve seen far too often this season.
It’s time for the NFL to face reality: Officiating is a full-time job and it should be treated as such. Part-time officials simply can’t provide the level of consistency and excellence that fans expect and deserve.
