Do I agree that the games are being called a little loosely and not as efficient or accurate as the games that would be called with regular referees?  Sure, I agree but not many of you know the truth about the replacement referees and why it is so difficult for them to call these games as accurately as they should.

Sept 24, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Referee Wayne Elliott (28) speaks with field judge Richard Simmons (102) before making a ruling on a call between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks during the fourth quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-US PRESSWIRE

In my past experience as a general manager of a semi pro football team, each semi pro league does not operate under the same rules of the game.  And to clarify, there are different rules of the game.  College rules differentiate from the NFL rules in many aspects.  The clock stops in the NCAA after a first down is made, while NFL keeps the clock running.  Downed runners in the NCAA only have to touch the ground, whereas the NFL player has to be touched by another defender.  These are just a couple of examples of rules that have been noticeably challenged in the last few weeks of professional.   My first team that played semi pro football operated under NFL rules.  The next team I was GM for operated under NCAA rules because we played in a different league.  Why did we change from a league with NFL rules to NCAA?  It was quite simple, we had more missed or botched calls during that first season because we were asking referees that officiated high school games to conform to professional football rules, which was something that were not accustomed to.  It’s kind of like putting the square peg into a circle.  It didn’t fit and we had many times that the officials would halt the game to pullout their NFL rules to clarify things.  The next football season, when we switched to a league that had rules that were more accustomed to calling with we had fewer problems with the officials and were able to enjoy a relatively good season.

Which brings me to my point of this article, these guys are doing the best they can under the circumstances that they were given.  Not given much notice to prepare and study up on the rule differences, we are overly criticizing a group of people who are doing their best.  Some of the calls made such as the call made where the official called a touchback instead of putting the ball on the 5 yard line, I’m sorry but that’s nerves.  I challenge you to think about it for a moment, some of the replacement refs are in front of crowds of 2,000-3,000 people in some instances.  Many Division II football games don’t draw the 75,000-90,000 crowds quite like the NFL games do.  Some of these referees are going from the Division II football environment to the professional.

So put yourself in their shoes, it’s not an easy job already but to be put in this position.  It’s really not fair to those guys that are trying to do their best.  Public criticism is, in my opinion, blaming the wrong people for the poor calls.  If we want to really point a finger, how about pointing it at the regular refs who are holding out.  They are putting some of these games in real jeopardy of getting out of control.  The game on Monday night saw a hit by a Seattle Seahawk DB that turned into scuffle with the Green Bay Packer receiver.  Granted both of them should have gotten the penalty but if the referees should have talked to the head coach or removed the player from the game, in my opinion.  There have been too many hits such as the one Sean Lee took from the same Seahawks a week ago.

Every time frustration sets in at the officials, just remember square peg going into a circle.

My last thought though is this, once the regular refs return these guys will be tossed to the side like many of the replacement players were in the 1980’s.  Believe it or not, there a few of those refs that deserve to stay at the professional level and probably won’t get the opportunity because of all of the negative press.

Sept. 26, 2010; Glendale, AZ, USA; Detailed view of an NFL yellow penalty flag on the field during the game between the Arizona Cardinals against the Oakland Raiders at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 24-23. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

The Dallas Cowboys’ offense did just well enough to win on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but when are we going to see some discipline on the offensive line when it comes to false starts?  At some point, these guys ought to become comfortable enough working together that the communication issues, or whatever is causing these penalties, goes away.

Here’s hoping it’s sooner rather than later.  As aggravating as holding penalties can be, they are sometimes understandable, like when trying to keep your quarterback from taking a big hit.  But false starts don’t fall into that category.  Jason Witten was the culprit on two of the false starts and also dropped a couple more passes at inopportune times.  If he is still ailing from the spleen injury, shouldn’t we just let him get well before throwing him back into the fire?And we can’t talk about flags without talking about the replacement refs.  They are on top of false starts, encroachment and holding penalties and sometimes they get pass interference right, but this is the second week in a row that a Cowboys’ player has taken a helmet to helmet hit with nothing called.

These are game changing situations, either due to a player leaving the game with a concussion or at least the 15 yard change in field position due to the team responsible for the infraction being rightfully punished.  And, in some cases, a severe injury due to such a hit can change a team’s whole season.

My take on it is this.  You have likely heard that some of these replacement refs have indicated they are fans of particular teams, and/or that they have a fantasy football team.  As a result, they find themselves officiating NFL games and they are in awe.  So, like many fans watching NFL games, they are watching the ball.  They might as well get them a chair, because if they are watching like a fan, they are missing things that happen away from the ball.

What’s up with the ref throwing his hat in the end zone causing Kevin Ogletree to slip?  It kept the Cowboys from scoring a likely touchdown and we are fortunate that it didn’t cause an injury to Ogletree.  I still don’t know why he threw it, but I think a banana peel would have been funnier.

Aug 9, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; NFL referee Shannon Eastin (left) during a game between the San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers at Qualcomm Stadium. Eastin is the first female referee to ever ref a game in the NFL. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

Let’s look at the big picture here.  The money the league pays the refs pales in comparison to what the players are paid.  So why is the NFL letting money squabbles between them and the official refs put their product at risk?   Their product, to a large extent, is the players and serious injury is being risked by these players when they step on the field with the way the replacements are calling the games.

In addition to the aforementioned helmet to helmet non calls is all of the fighting they are allowing to go on after the play.  Something’s got to give.  It’s time to get make the deal to get the real refs back and tell these subpar excuses for game officials to take a hike.

It’s a shame that Barry Church is lost for the season and I wish him a speedy recovery.  But, if any part of the team is capable of losing a key player, it’s the defense.  They played well against the Buccaneers, no doubt helped by the fact that Tampa didn’t seem to want to win the game until after the two minute warning before the end of the game.  However, I’m hoping that Gerald Sensabaugh is back by Monday night for the game with the Chicago Bears.