Richard Sherman's 4 Ways to Improve Officiating

[Sean Payton's Vicodin]

Link

Very well written article. Sherman writes for SI once in a while and it's interesting to get articles someone who plays NFL rather than some fat middle age guy who gets paid for what we do for free.

TLDR

1. Simplify the Rules

2. Add an 8th official

3. Change around the locations of officials

4. Improve player/ref communications (this one is interesting)

So, do you agree?

[Darth Biscuit]

I think you could throw a rock at it and that would improve the officiating I've seen this year...

[csx]

It's 95% rulebook issues to me. Nobody could be what fans consider a good ref with the rules in place and without benefit of the views the fans have.

[ThPantherFan]

With today's technology they could have officials watching various camera angles and if something is obviously different than the on field call, then that could weigh in on the call.  I wouldn't use this in lieu of on-field officials because you would lose a very important element of the game.  It would only come into play on absolute controversial plays.  Another possibility is having an offense and defense head ref.

[Ivan The Awesome]

...so Richard Sherman wants better officiating? Is that because of those bullshit calls that went against Seattle Opponents or because of some call that didn't go Seattle's way? 

[t96]

Honestly the refs haven't been more of an issue than in years past. I think the bigger issue is rules that are unclear (like the catch rule) which has nothing to do with the refs.

[pstall]

Let some wear google glass. 

It can't be perfect but they could get real times calls done faster.

[pantherclaw]

I'm all for simplifying the rule book. 

 

[Montsta]

The most egregious thing is the catch/no catch rule like Thomas said. Every week it seems a game changes based on it. 

Mans when they review a play that was called incorrectly and STILL uphold the call, that's maddening as hell and it has happened to us several times. 

[Ivan The Awesome]

Rules are left to interpretation. Each ref will have a different perspective. There just isn't a sure fire way for every ref to call a catch the same way. 

 

Modifying the rules or simplifying them is a start. 

[Goondal]

41 minutes ago, Ivan The Awesome said:

...so Richard Sherman wants better officiating? Is that because of those bullshit calls that went against Seattle Opponents or because of some call that didn't go Seattle's way? 

He brings up one of each.  He also is mostly defending the refs but saying that things should be done to make the job easier on them.  The only negative thing he says about them really is that some will not explain a call to the players so they know what they did wrong.

[electro's horse]

or the wealthiest sports organization in the united states and second in the world makes it a full time profession and pays them to practice in the offseason.

[ecu88]

2 hours ago, Sean Payton's Vicodin said:

Link

Very well written article. Sherman writes for SI once in a while and it's interesting to get articles someone who plays NFL rather than some fat middle age guy who gets paid for what we do for free.

TLDR

1. Simplify the Rules

2. Add an 8th official

3. Change around the locations of officials

4. Improve player/ref communications (this one is interesting)

So, do you agree?

I have always had a soft spot for him due to JNO.  I think he is spot on, especially number 1 but each makes the game better as a whole imo.  Officials are in a catch 22 with those overly complex rules.

[t96]

8 minutes ago, Goondal said:

He brings up one of each.  He also is mostly defending the refs but saying that things should be done to make the job easier on them.  The only negative thing he says about them really is that some will not explain a call to the players so they know what they did wrong.

Why would they need to explain to players what they did wrong? That's not their job. It's the players/team's coach's job to understand the rules and play by them.