Ray Anderson leaving NFL at end of season

NFL executive oversaw officiating department during tenure Ray Anderson, NFL executive vice president of football operations, will leave his position at the end of the 2013 season to "pursue other opportunities" according to a statement from the National Football League.   In the statement, commissioner Roger Goodell said of Anderson, "Ray’s wide-ranging

Former NFL official Barnes reflects on his career

Tom Barnes was a NFL line judge for 26 seasons This past fall was the first one in 44 seasons that Tom Barnes wasn't enforcing football rules.  The 69-year old Barnes (who wore uniform number 55) retired after a 26 year career as a NFL official.  The Saint Paul, Minn., native

NFL loses credibility in assigning replacement officials

The "blooper reel" of funny, frustrating, and exasperating NFL replacement official mistakes was very extensive going into Monday Night Football in Week 3.  In one call, the "Fail Mary" smashed the blooper reel with a granite rock of mayhem, bewilderment, chaos, frustration, and questions about the quality of the product

Official turns back to potential tinderbox

Week 1: Packers at 49ers There were many controversies between the Packers and 49ers, but one of the more minor disagreements in the game could have erupted into a major fracas partly due to a lack of observation and game sense from the back judge, Peter Shafer, number 94. With 4:47 remaining

It’s much more than getting call, rules right

All eyes are on the replacement officials as they begin to call games that count.  The NFL has hired replacement officials to call the games after management locked out members of the NFL Referees Association in a labor dispute.  Many fans will be ready to immediately render a verdict on

NFL VP of operations pressed on lockout

NFL executive vice president for football operations, Ray Anderson, clarified the NFL's proposal regarding full-time officials and scoffed at the idea that the integrity of the game would be compromised with replacement officials.  The NFL has locked out members of the NFL Referees Association in a contact dispute and has

Eastin on sideline for Preseason Week 2

[media-credit name="Mike Jurecki | XTRA 910 Sports." align="alignright" width="150"][/media-credit] Shannon Eastin will have to wait at least week to continue her history-making stint as the first female NFL referee. A source with knowledge of the second week assignments of the replacement officials indicates that Eastin will be in uniform, but will

Referee temps have ’01 scab experience

Crossing the proverbial picket line is familiar to some of this year's replacement officials. That's because the NFL has found somebody that they used to know. Eleven years ago, when the NFL Referees Association went on strike, the league hired replacement officials, who served in the preseason and Week 1 of