One of the most significant issues with the NFL’s replacement officials is that many of them are fans who have allegiances to specific teams. Unlike the regular officials, the refs working the games now never had to be objective about professional football. Like any of us, they were simply fans prior to this season. According to LeSean McCoy, one of them also joked on Sunday about the fact that he plays fantasy football.
“They’re like fans, kind of though,” McCoy said during an interview with 94WIP’s Anthony Gargano on Monday. “I’ll be honest, they’re like fans. One of the refs was talking about his fantasy team, like ‘McCoy, come on, I need you for my fantasy,’ ahhh, what?!”
Bad calls and inexperience are one thing, but issues like this bring an entirely separate and equally dangerous dynamic to the worsening situation. We have already seen one replacement official pulled after photos of him decked out in Saints gear were discovered on Facebook. In addition to talking about fantasy football, McCoy said he was also surprised when he saw Ray Lewis successfully intimidate an official.
“During the game, they made like a bad call or something, the ref, and I see Ray Lewis like pump his chest up, trying to scare him,” he explained. “Don’t you know (the ref) started stuttering? I’m like ‘what’s this?!’”
A lot of this stuff isn’t the replacement officials’ fault. They are simply rookies who are two weeks into being on the biggest stage of their lives, so mistakes are to be expected. However, they should realize why playing fantasy football given their current position is not a smart idea. Or, at the very least, don’t go chatting about it with the players.
Helmet knock to Shutdown Corner
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