Minnesota Vikings veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen thinks the NFL needs to hire full-time referees because the ones they have now are too biased.
In an appearance on KFAN Friday, Thielen called on the league to hire full-time officials because the current setup simply allows officials to spend the week bragging about their “side job.”
“I think we need to have full-time referees,” Thielen said. “No offense to these guys, they obviously love their job and they put a lot of time into it, and I know they do. But we have these guys that are kind of fanboys a little bit. They love the fact that they get to go out there and they get to shake hands with Patrick Mahomes. They get to hang out with these professional athletes. Then they go to their real job on Monday through Friday and tell everybody how cool their side job is.”
Thielen added that the NFL is a multi-billion dollar operation, and with so much riding on the games, there is no excuse for the league to not have full-time officials.
"We have these guys that are kind of fanboys a little bit."
— KFAN1003 (@KFAN1003) November 14, 2025
Vikings WR Adam Thielen told the @PowerTripKFAN this morning that he thinks the NFL should have full time referees.@iHeartRadio #iHeartRadio pic.twitter.com/4PXUgZaoHw
Thielen is far from the first to suggest that the NFL should hire full-time officials, but referring to the current officials as “fanboys” is sure to draw some eyebrows. Then again, many would suggest that there is a good bit of evidence to back Thielen’s assertion.
The remarks come five days after Thielen was called for a controversial penalty during Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which appears to still be on his mind.
