By The Sports Xchange
Players have been critical of the replacement officials in preseason games, but it appears they may have to endure having the replacement refs when the games count, too.
The NFL and the NFL Referees Association have made little progress in negotiations, and league executives said Monday the 2012 regular season may begin with replacement officials, ESPN.com reported.
According to the report, based on information from league executives, two issues seem to be the stumbling blocks in the negotiations.
One is that the NFL wants to make a group of part-time officials work full time. But most of the part-time refs have other fulltime job they don't want to give up.
The second issue is that NFL wants to add three officiating crews to its roster, giving the NFL a bigger pool from which to choose and giving officials more rest. The officials oppose this idea.
The NFL believes the performance of the replacement officials will improve with experience.
Players have been critical of the replacement officials in preseason games, but it appears they may have to endure having the replacement refs when the games count, too.
The NFL and the NFL Referees Association have made little progress in negotiations, and league executives said Monday the 2012 regular season may begin with replacement officials, ESPN.com reported.
According to the report, based on information from league executives, two issues seem to be the stumbling blocks in the negotiations.
One is that the NFL wants to make a group of part-time officials work full time. But most of the part-time refs have other fulltime job they don't want to give up.
The second issue is that NFL wants to add three officiating crews to its roster, giving the NFL a bigger pool from which to choose and giving officials more rest. The officials oppose this idea.
The NFL believes the performance of the replacement officials will improve with experience.
