The NFL's last foray into replacement officials ended in embarrassment for the league when a botched call and comic confusion in a prime-time game led to the end of a lockout that marred the first three weeks of the 2012 season.
The play known as the Fail Mary proved to be the final straw that helped end that labor dispute, drawing such widespread criticism that even the two major presidential candidates weighed in on it. But it was far from the only
instance of a blown call, a lack of understanding of rules and procedures, or question of impartiality.
“Would you let a Toyota dealership work on your brand new Rolls-Royce? That doesn’t work right, does it,” Dallas safety Gerald Sensabaugh said at the time. “Our brand is so big, it’s so important to a lot of people. There’s no way you can have guys that don’t have experience at that level.”
There weren't as many glaring errors when the NFL also used replacement officials for one week of exhibition games and the opening week in 2001 before the labor dispute was resolved shortly after 9/11, and the regular officials returned in time when the season resumed following a one-week break.
Now the league is preparing for the possibility of another season starting with replacement officials. The NFL is moving forward with plans to begin hiring and training replacement officials in the next several weeks because negotiations with the referees’ union have been unsuccessful, two people with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the conversations are private.
The NFL is considering a rule change if there are replacement officials that would allow the replay center to correct “clear and obvious” mistakes, even on certain penalties that aren't normally allowed to be reviewed by replay.
Here's a look back at some of the memorable mistakes that happened the last two times the NFL used replacement officials during a labor dispute.
The final straw of the 2012 lockout came in a Monday night game in Week 3 that provided the indelible image of the three-week fiasco, with two officials signaling diametrically opposed calls at the same time.
With Seattle losing 12-7 with the ball at the Green Bay 24 in the closing seconds, Russell Wilson launched a deep pass toward Golden Tate in the end zone. Tate shoved cornerback Sam Shields out of the way and went for the ball with Packers defender M.D. Jennings. It appeared Jennings initially caught the ball before Tate tried to wrestle it away.
Adding to the confusion was the reaction from the two officials in the area. One waved his arms back and forth, signaling a touchback. The other signaled touchdown. The final call on the field was a simultaneous catch that resulted in a TD for Seattle and it stood after a lengthy replay review.
“It was awful," Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “Just look at the replay. And then the fact that it was reviewed, it was awful."
The league later said Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game with the Packers winning, but said there wasn't enough evidence to overrule the call of a catch.
Las Vegas oddsmakers said at least $300 million changed hands worldwide on that call. The numbers would be significantly higher this season with the spread of legal gambling.
The night before the Fail Mary, another high-profile game in prime time ended in controversy.
Justin Tucker's 27-yard field goal on the final play was ruled good, giving Baltimore a 31-30 win over New England. The ball was above the right upright and appeared as if it might have been wide, but was ruled good. The play wasn't subject to replay because the ball was over the upright, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick wanted the officials to give it another look.
He grabbed the arm of an official and was later fined $50,000.
One of the big concerns about using replacement officials was player safety. One of the most memorable of those cases came in Week 3 when Pittsburgh safety Ryan Mundy delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Oakland receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey but there was no penalty. Heyward-Bey was hospitalized with a concussion and neck injury, and Mundy was later fined $21,000 for the hit.
Many of the issues in 2012 were more about procedure than the actual calls.
There was a Week 1 game between Seattle and Arizona when the officials gave the Seahawks an extra timeout because they incorrectly didn't charge them for one after an injury in the final two minutes.
The 49ers were given two extra challenges in a Week 3 loss to Minnesota as the officials let coach Jim Harbaugh challenge two calls even though he was out of timeouts.
“I granted him the challenge and we went and looked at it,” replacement ref Ken Roan said. "That was wrong. I should not have.”
In overtime of another Week 3 game, the officials enforced a penalty from the wrong 44-yard line, giving Tennessee an extra 12 yards on a drive that ended with a 27-yard game-winning field goal against Detroit.
"Obviously, there was a miscommunication, or I don’t know what you call it, from an enforcement standpoint,” Lions coach Jim Schwartz said.
During the second quarter of another Week 3 game, Dallas receiver Kevin Ogletree slipped on an official's hat in the end zone while he tried to catch a pass. The hat was thrown on the field of play — instead of near the sideline — after another Cowboys receiver went out of bounds.
There were also issues of impartiality in 2012, with the most memorable coming before a Week 2 game between Carolina and New Orleans.
Just hours before kickoff of that game, the NFL had to remove side judge Brian Stropolo from the game when it was discovered he was a Saints fan. The league had received several phone calls and emails about Stropolo, who had posted several photos of himself in Saints gear tailgating at a preseason game on his Facebook page.
Stropolo had worked the first game of the season that year on a nationally televised game between Dallas and the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
There were fewer memorable mishaps from the replacement officials in 2001 than the lockout 11 years later, but there were at least a couple of complaints.
Fill-in referee Randall Beesley used replay that overturned a 27-yard catch by Charlie Garner for Oakland against Kansas City, leading to a complaint by Tim Brown that led to a personal foul on the Raiders. That turned a scoring chance at the end of the half into a punt.
Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon noted several missed calls after the Oakland win — including some that should have gone against his own team.
Washington defensive end Bruce Smith was angrier, complaining of being punched, leg-whipped and grabbed by the face mask without penalties being called. Smith wrote a letter to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue complaining about the calls and the treatment from replacement ref Jim Sprenger.
“The officiating crew that we had today was horrible,” Smith said after Washington lost to San Diego. “There were a number of plays out there, at least six, and we’re going to send into the league and I would hope that the league would take action and fine these guys. They were a mess and they definitely put players’ careers in jeopardy. This is unacceptable.”
Others around the league were less upset, with Seattle coach Mike Holmgren saying at the time, “I thought they did a pretty good job. They didn’t throw a lot of flags and they kept the game under control.”
There were 1.6 fewer penalties called per game in the week with replacement officials compared to the rest of the 2001 season.
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