Replacement referee claims they saved the whole NFL season
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SEATTLE - It's a ruling that grabbed headlines across the country and became a national obsession for a few days.
Nobody has had anything good to say about the replacement referees who have been cast in the role of incompetent villains since a disputed touchdown call on the final play gave the Seattle Seahawks a victory over the Green Bay Packers on national television Monday night.
Reaction to the call was fast and furious.
"It was awful, just look at the replay," said Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.
"I've never seen anything like this in all my years of football," echoed Packers head coach Mike McCarthy.
But now - one of those replacement referees says they saved the whole NFL season.
Mike Peek, a community college teacher in Texas, has more experience than most of his fellow fill-ins - 13 years of Division I college refereeing. He was at Monday night's Seahawks-Packers game, but he didn't make the controversial call and won't second-guess those who did.
Now he's speaking out for the first time.
"To see the game fall apart at the end, it was really one of those things - it'd make you want to go back in the back room and cry a few tears," says Peek. "Somebody asked me if it's a good call or bad call - it depends on where you live. You know, the replacement refs, we were at the mercy of the crowd."
And at the mercy of the nation - even earning a skit on Saturday Night Live.
Despite the outrage and ridicule, Peek says the replacement refs have plenty to be proud of.
"We did what we had to do. We kept the league afloat during the pre-season and during the first few weeks of the regular season," he says.
As for the standing ovation when the real refs returned Thursday, he says, "You know, they're the heroes now. They are the stars, they are the saviors
of the game. I wish them well, I hope they have a great season."
The NFL's referees union agreed to an eight-year labor contract that ended the three-month lockout.
Nobody has had anything good to say about the replacement referees who have been cast in the role of incompetent villains since a disputed touchdown call on the final play gave the Seattle Seahawks a victory over the Green Bay Packers on national television Monday night.
Reaction to the call was fast and furious.
"It was awful, just look at the replay," said Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.
"I've never seen anything like this in all my years of football," echoed Packers head coach Mike McCarthy.
But now - one of those replacement referees says they saved the whole NFL season.
Mike Peek, a community college teacher in Texas, has more experience than most of his fellow fill-ins - 13 years of Division I college refereeing. He was at Monday night's Seahawks-Packers game, but he didn't make the controversial call and won't second-guess those who did.
Now he's speaking out for the first time.
"To see the game fall apart at the end, it was really one of those things - it'd make you want to go back in the back room and cry a few tears," says Peek. "Somebody asked me if it's a good call or bad call - it depends on where you live. You know, the replacement refs, we were at the mercy of the crowd."
And at the mercy of the nation - even earning a skit on Saturday Night Live.
Despite the outrage and ridicule, Peek says the replacement refs have plenty to be proud of.
"We did what we had to do. We kept the league afloat during the pre-season and during the first few weeks of the regular season," he says.
As for the standing ovation when the real refs returned Thursday, he says, "You know, they're the heroes now. They are the stars, they are the saviors
of the game. I wish them well, I hope they have a great season."
The NFL's referees union agreed to an eight-year labor contract that ended the three-month lockout.
I wouldn't go as far as saying the replacement refs saved the NFL, but I think they are getting a bad rap from the media and the fans. Â It was stupid to see all of these standing ovations these refs were getting. Â Because, after watching a weekend of NFL football with the real refs on my Directv Sunday Ticket, I saw many bad calls that everyone were complaining about from the replacement refs. Â In fact, one ref pointed the wrong direction as well. Â They blew many calls in the GB-NO game. Â The only difference I witnessed was that replays were quicker and ref consultations were quicker. Â Same bad calls.
Â
After all of the uproar over the call at the end of the GB-Seattle game, I was not convinced that the regular refs wouldn't have made the same judgement call in real-time. Â This weekend set of games convinced me of that. Â Everyone made a big deal over that blown call as if the real refs never made a bad call that determined the outcome of the game. Â It was ridiculous. Â Bad calls and even non-calls happen all of the time that determine the outcomes of games. Â It happens every week.
Nice try replacement refs like anyone is going to really believe anything you guys see or say..
@Windowseat So what will your excuse be the first time the regular refs make a call you don't agree with?
If you say this along the same analogy that in a way... Hitler created Israel... well.. I guess.
Go back 60 years to Bugs Bunny cartoons and see, even then, we made fun of refs. It's a time honored tradition, one that's not going to go away simply because the "normal" refs are back. I can wait to shout at blown calls with friends and a bowl of chips on the table. Long live the American Heckler!
Thanks Replacement Referee. On the other hand....you may be the Antichrist.
Replacement or not, referees will always have a tough job in any sport and always be hated by some every time they make a call. That's because 99% fans are stupid homers and can't watch their beloved team objectively and believe they should never have call against them.
No one seems to be blaming the players. They took advantage of the replacement refs which resulted in a massive amount of penalties because the refs decided to call everything. I give a lot of credit to those guys, they went out and did a job under very negative circumstances, when everyone, even the players were against them.
I hope he goes to Green Bay and tells everyone about how great he is....
Well I was thinking the same thing that they did. Altho I wouldn't really be taking credit for it if I were them.
Where in the story did the replacement referee say they saved the whole NFL season? Nowhere. I believe he said they kept the league afloat. They did. Give them a break. Another inaccurate headline.Â
 @JT "But now - one of those replacement referees says they saved the whole NFL season." Says it about a third of the way down.
 @Zoso Do you see any quotes surrounding that sentence? That tells me the reporter is saying it, not the referee. Read the paragraph just below where it says now he is speaking out for the FIRST time. That's what he actually said and it doesn't say anything about saving the whole NFL season.Â
@JTÂ So you're gonna reach that conclusion just because the reporter didn't "exactly" quote him as saying that? That doesn't mean he didn't say that. How would you know? You don't know everything he could've said.
@JT "We did what we had to do. We kept the league afloat during the pre-season and during the first few weeks of the regular season," he says.
They actually kinda did. Given the controversy stirred up, it got them to negotiate a deal because the NFL realized that if the fans do not stick around, everyone in the industry begins to lose money. Easier to give $3 million in concessions over a multibillion dollar industry than to have many people lose a part of the pie.
The replacement refs saved the whole NFL season? Are you effing kidding me? You know, most of these replacement refs have probably dreamed of reffing an NFL game(s). These guys finally got their shot and they blew it. It was hands-down across-the-board the absolute worst reffing ever in the history of sports. These guys consistantly made bad judgement calls game after game and THAT'S what they should remember when they think of their "accomplished dream." Jerkoffs.
@Tattooed_Angel Bitter Green Bay fan probably..
 @Tattooed_Angel Actually, if they hadn't stepped up in the first place, the NFL season would have never started in the first place. So in a sense, they did save the NFL season.
Â
In another way, they saved the season by scaring the NFL refs to the point of having involuntary bowel movements - so much that they were pressured into signing a contract that ended the lockout.
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So there's two ways the replacement refs were heroes. Their calls are a different matter entirely!
NFL Fans, the true whiners. Grow up and stop crying.
Well, if you consider the NFL season saved becuase the owners could still stuff their pockets with $$$, they yes, they saved the season. However, I don't blame the scabs one bit, they were offered a job, they took it, and failed miserabIy at it. I blame the greedy owners and their puppet in charge, Goodell for this mess.Â
 @path_tech Goodell can take a flying leap off a tall bridge, that's for sure.  I'd like to think the NFL can't do much worse, but you know they would manage to find someone worse.
@stamperzann  I want to say this, I am a huge fan of professional football. I love it. However, this whole mess with a $9 billion business arguing about maybe a few million dollars just ticked me off.Â
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Replacement refs whining? Priceless..........
You know what makes the 12th man better when we also have a 13th man in the form of the officials.
"We were at the mercy of the crowd"? That tells you all you need to know about how bad these guys were - that they could be intimidated into making calls just to avoid angering the home crowd. That explains the MNF game a little more, too. No thanks, and good riddance.
 @MVDad One of my friends posted on FB that day that the refs upheld the call because they didn't want the crap beaten out of them by the Seattle fans.  I'm beginning to think it's true.
 @stamperzann  @MVDad From what he said in the article, it sure seems like the case. Wow, to be intimidated is one thing, but admitting it apparently without shame is another. He shouldn't even be allowed to referee Div 1 games.