Longtime NFL official turned rules expert Mike Pereira is demanding a major change to the league's officiating.
Pereira, 75, believes that the league needs to take a major step to change officiating moving forward. There were several controversial calls over the weekend, including multiple in the Broncos' overtime win against the Bills and many in the Rams' overtime win over the Bears.
The longtime NFL official believes that the league needs full-time refs.
“I think it’s time to look at full-time officials,” Pereira told the Charlotte Observer. “Not everyone. But I do believe that the person that represents the crew in the field, the guy in the white hat, the referee — I think those 17 people should be full-time working together all year. Not going home in between games, but going to an officiating institute and breaking down all the games together, so the messages are consistent. . . . I’m not a fan of making everyone full-time, but make the referees full-time. To me, it’s time for that.”
Pereira's comments actually came before the Divisional Round, but they ring even louder this week.
Most NFL referees have full-time jobs elsewhere and work for the league on a part-time basis.
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Bills coach Sean McDermott was among those calling out the league's refs following the controversial interception ruling.
“That play is not even close. That’s a catch all the way. I sat in my locker and I looked at it probably 20 times, and nobody can convince me that that ball is not caught and in possession of Buffalo. I just have no idea how the NFL handed it, in particular, the way that they did. I think the players and the fans deserve an explanation, you know?” he said.
Fired NFL coach demands more from refs
McDermott, who was fired by the Bills on Monday, is demanding better performances from the refs.
“Here’s the deal, right? The fans deserve more. The players certainly deserve more. They deserve an explanation, and it’s a shame that a game is decided on a call like that, and there is no time spent with the head official going underneath the hood or to the replay booth, right? To the monitor. I don’t understand how that works. I don’t understand how that could be the case when it’s such a close play, so basically there is one person ruling on that play or, only New York ruling on that play? I don’t agree with that. If that’s the case, I don’t agree with that -- that that is the best approach to decide a game like that.”
Perhaps going to a full-time model would allow the league to do that.