# Is football just really hard to officiate? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 30, 2019, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584 "2019-12-30T08:29:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/21 "2019-12-31T03:16:23Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Which explains why no one can ever hit or catch it? The pitcher and catcher are in constant communication so that the catcher knows where to put his glove, otherwise he very well might miss catching the pitch. And hitting a ball is very difficult. It’s coming so fast you have to guess where it’s going to end up pretty early on and start swinging before it gets to the plate. You’re watching the pitcher more than the ball. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/22 "2019-12-31T03:37:44Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Which explains why no one can ever hit or catch it? Hitting or catching a pitch is a matter of anticipation; you CAN’T see it in the last split second. You can’t track it, anyway. The fact is that batters and catchers often fail to hit and catch the ball, and umps often fail to make the right call. There is no evidence at all that it is possible for human beings to consistently get fewer than 7 percent of ball and strike calls wrong (and that includes preposterously easy calls, like balls thrown over the batter’s head.) 93 percent accuracy is about the best any ump can do, and only when they’re young; essentially all the best MLB umps at calling pitches are the youngest ones, too. Humans will never get any better at this. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/23 "2020-01-02T08:15:52Z")
Wow, great responses. I think this is the best Game Room thread I’ve ever had. 🙂 Okay, I looked over that clip over the pass interference noncall, the one that had Seahawks fans up in arms. I saw two big guys pushing against each other, a bunch of hand motions, and one of them falling down. I…sheesh. If there was a missed penalty, I certainly couldn’t prove it. I’m pretty sure this was a case of both players doing enough that the official could not definitively pin PI on one or the other. russian heel - I remember an [ESPN.com](http://ESPN.com) writer…might have been Bill Simmons; it was a long time ago…being disgusted with Donaghy because he was a glory hound and didn’t say anything anyone who’d been paying attention to the league didn’t already know. Make of it what you will. Good point about having to keep things moving, and I’d like to pose to you a related question: Would it be better if we got rid of replay and challenges altogether? It frankly astounds me that, after taking such massive, drastic, sweeping steps to have better officiating and a level playing field, I inevitably hear about a new horrifically egregious miscall or miscarriage of justice **every week**. This is insane, especially given the number of games the NFL has compared to other sports. Sure NBA fans might grumble about bias toward the Lakers or the Knicks getting jobbed in the draft lottery, but you won’t find thirty YouTube videos of flagrant fouls that weren’t called in the '18-'19 season. The NFL keeps trying and trying to become “accurate”, and it just isn’t happening. Why not accept that reality? ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/24 "2020-01-02T08:28:32Z")
Wow, great responses. I think this is the best Game Room thread I’ve ever had. 🙂 Okay, I looked over that clip over the pass interference noncall, the one that had Seahawks fans up in arms. I saw two big guys pushing against each other, a bunch of hand motions, and one of them falling down. I…sheesh. If there was a missed penalty, I certainly couldn’t prove it. I’m pretty sure this was a case of both players doing enough that the official could not definitively pin PI on one or the other. russian heel - I remember an [ESPN.com](http://ESPN.com) writer…might have been Bill Simmons; it was a long time ago…being disgusted with Donaghy because he was a glory hound and didn’t say anything anyone who’d been paying attention to the league didn’t already know. Make of it what you will. Good point about having to keep things moving, and I’d like to pose to you a related question: Would it be better if we got rid of replay and challenges altogether? It frankly astounds me that, after taking such massive, drastic, sweeping steps to have better officiating and a level playing field, I inevitably hear about a new horrifically egregious miscall or miscarriage of justice **every week**. This is insane, especially given the number of games the NFL has compared to other sports. Sure NBA fans might grumble about bias toward the Lakers or the Knicks getting jobbed in the draft lottery, but you won’t find thirty YouTube videos of flagrant fouls that weren’t called in the '18-'19 season. The NFL keeps trying and trying to become “accurate”, and it just isn’t happening. Why not accept that reality? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/25 "2020-01-02T12:31:48Z")
NFL could make all new refs full time while letting the existing guys stay part time if they want until they retire. College BB has no limit on the number of games a ref can work in a week. They are not full time and get paid per game. Some of them work 4 games a week which is too much but the NCAA does not care. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/26 "2020-01-02T14:22:28Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Wow, great responses. I think this is the best Game Room thread I’ve ever had. 🙂 > > Okay, I looked over that clip over the pass interference noncall, the one that had Seahawks fans up in arms. I saw two big guys pushing against each other, a bunch of hand motions, and one of them falling down. I…sheesh. If there was a missed penalty, I certainly couldn’t prove it. I’m pretty sure this was a case of both players doing enough that the official could not definitively pin PI on one or the other. > > russian heel - I remember an [ESPN.com](http://ESPN.com) writer…might have been Bill Simmons; it was a long time ago…being disgusted with Donaghy because he was a glory hound and didn’t say anything anyone who’d been paying attention to the league didn’t already know. Make of it what you will. > > Good point about having to keep things moving, and I’d like to pose to you a related question: Would it be better if we got rid of replay and challenges altogether? It frankly astounds me that, after taking such massive, drastic, sweeping steps to have better officiating and a level playing field, I inevitably hear about a new horrifically egregious miscall or miscarriage of justice **every week**. This is insane, especially given the number of games the NFL has compared to other sports. Sure NBA fans might grumble about bias toward the Lakers or the Knicks getting jobbed in the draft lottery, but you won’t find thirty YouTube videos of flagrant fouls that weren’t called in the '18-'19 season. The NFL keeps trying and trying to become “accurate”, and it just isn’t happening. Why not accept that reality? It almost appears that NFL fans enjoy the litigation of so many plays, or at least that getting it “right” in a game of inches is worth the interruption and additional down time. Personally, it’s one of the things (only one of!) that drove me away from the sport. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/27 "2020-01-02T15:06:38Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Good point about having to keep things moving, and I’d like to pose to you a related question: Would it be better if we got rid of replay and challenges altogether? It frankly astounds me that, after taking such massive, drastic, sweeping steps to have better officiating and a level playing field, I inevitably hear about a new horrifically egregious miscall or miscarriage of justice **every week**. This is insane, especially given the number of games the NFL has compared to other sports. Sure NBA fans might grumble about bias toward the Lakers or the Knicks getting jobbed in the draft lottery, but you won’t find thirty YouTube videos of flagrant fouls that weren’t called in the '18-'19 season. The NFL keeps trying and trying to become “accurate”, and it just isn’t happening. Why not accept that reality? The statements that “everyone knows holding could be called on every play” and “they need to let them play” I think illustrate that the game as currently played is impossible to officiate 100% correctly (and that no one really wants it to be). Don’t know what the fix is - but the first thing I’d do is make all replay decisions happen at full speed - if the human eye/brain can’t tell if the ball hit the ground (and similarly in baseball that the runner lost contact with the base) then it didn’t happen. And I’d write it into the TV contracts that slow-motion replays of calls can’t be broadcast during the game. People can do frame-by-frame analysis post-game, but it doesn’t need to happen real-time. I lean towards thinking that replay has led to poorer officiating - the on-field guys know that they are being watched/back-stopped by replay so their calls aren’t as critical to the game, and hence they are getting worse? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/28 "2020-01-02T15:18:56Z")
It’s funny to say the NFL is the worse, when watching even one NBA game will prove that is not true. You don’t need to trust a disgraced former ref, you can just look and see the crappy, inconsistent job. Whether or not you personally believe it is deliberate, there’s no denying the star players get calls their way. Everybody knows it. The announcers even point it out. Anybody that doesn’t know it probably thinks pro rasslin’ is a real contest. 🙂 And when MLB goes to robo umps (and fires Angel Hernandez!) the game will be better. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/29 "2020-01-02T16:03:09Z")
college FB has way too many replays, there is no limit. They should give the coaches challenges like the NFL. ---
**Author:** ![LoneRhino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lonerhino/32/1311_2.png) [@LoneRhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoneRhino)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/30 "2020-01-02T16:05:44Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Wow, great responses. I think this is the best Game Room thread I’ve ever had. 🙂 > > Okay, I looked over that clip over the pass interference noncall, the one that had Seahawks fans up in arms. I saw two big guys pushing against each other, a bunch of hand motions, and one of them falling down. I…sheesh. If there was a missed penalty, I certainly couldn’t prove it. I’m pretty sure this was a case of both players doing enough that the official could not definitively pin PI on one or the other. Most of the complaints that I have heard was that they didn’t even review the play. The NFL changed the rules to make PI calls and non-calls reviewable. Then in a key moment of an important game they don’t even bother to review it. It’s an example of a bad rule that needs to be scrapped. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/31 "2020-01-02T18:06:17Z")
In all of North American sports, football is arguably the most complex to officiate. You have 22 players on the field at any given time, which is more than you see in baseball, basketball or hockey. You have them all colliding with or running near or into each other at most times. The NFL rulebook is a yard thick. It’s the most violent of the 4 major sports. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/32 "2020-01-02T18:13:27Z")
> [@LoneRhino](#): > > Most of the complaints that I have heard was that they didn’t even review the play. The NFL changed the rules to make PI calls and non-calls reviewable. Then in a key moment of an important game they don’t even bother to review it. It’s an example of a bad rule that needs to be scrapped. Yeah, that one suprised me, too. Even if it would have wound up not being called, the league has come across as capricious (at best) in when they have been choosing to (or not to) review those sorts of plays. Either find a way to be consistent in when you’re going to review those plays, or scrap it. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/33 "2020-01-02T20:28:45Z")
> [@LoneRhino](#): > > Most of the complaints that I have heard was that they didn’t even review the play. The NFL changed the rules to make PI calls and non-calls reviewable. Then in a key moment of an important game they don’t even bother to review it. It’s an example of a bad rule that needs to be scrapped. They did look at it. They just didn’t stop play. It was obvious that Hollister didn’t do enough to warrant an OPI call. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/34 "2020-01-02T21:52:00Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Having been a football official at the high school level, I’d say yeah, it’s pretty hard. I found basketball much harder, but I have a much more intimate knowledge of football. Beside being a lifelong fan of the sport, my father was an official for decades. > > I also have experience with video. I think their could be MUCH better use of instantly available slow-motion video from dozens of angles. Running around on the field is loads of fun, but I’d rather be in a modern TV control room for accuracy. As a one-time player, and a long-time watcher, I’ve always wondered if some sort of ball-positioning system might be helpful. Some sort of thing that could locate the ball in a 2-d plane, with a sort of “clicker” to indicate the end of the down, or automatic indication of touchdowns. So rather than mess with antiquated chains, the refs would just click this thing at the end of the play when the player is down/out of bounds, and it would return the exact yard line that the ball was at when the clicker was clicked. I can’t help but think the technology to do this wouldn’t be too obtrusive or difficult. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/35 "2020-01-05T03:10:22Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Wow, great responses. I think this is the best Game Room thread I’ve ever had. 🙂 > > Okay, I looked over that clip over the pass interference noncall, the one that had Seahawks fans up in arms. I saw two big guys pushing against each other, a bunch of hand motions, and one of them falling down. I…sheesh. If there was a missed penalty, I certainly couldn’t prove it. I’m pretty sure this was a case of both players doing enough that the official could not definitively pin PI on one or the other. > > russian heel - I remember an [ESPN.com](http://ESPN.com) writer…might have been Bill Simmons; it was a long time ago…being disgusted with Donaghy because he was a glory hound and didn’t say anything anyone who’d been paying attention to the league didn’t already know. Make of it what you will. > > Good point about having to keep things moving, and I’d like to pose to you a related question: Would it be better if we got rid of replay and challenges altogether? It frankly astounds me that, after taking such massive, drastic, sweeping steps to have better officiating and a level playing field, I inevitably hear about a new horrifically egregious miscall or miscarriage of justice **every week**. This is insane, especially given the number of games the NFL has compared to other sports. Sure NBA fans might grumble about bias toward the Lakers or the Knicks getting jobbed in the draft lottery, but you won’t find thirty YouTube videos of flagrant fouls that weren’t called in the '18-'19 season. The NFL keeps trying and trying to become “accurate”, and it just isn’t happening. Why not accept that reality? Replay actually does more good than bad. The problem fans have is that the video needs to be conclusive for the call to be overturned. It’s the fans of the team that the final decision does not favor who then bitch that replay doesn’t work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/36 "2020-01-05T11:47:30Z")
Interesting that baseball adds 2 extra umps down the foul lines for the playoffs. Don’t know of any other sport that adds refs/umps. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/37 "2020-01-06T01:46:33Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Yeah, that one suprised me, too. Even if it would have wound up not being called, the league has come across as capricious (at best) in when they have been choosing to (or not to) review those sorts of plays. Either find a way to be consistent in when you’re going to review those plays, or scrap it. The ridiculous part is that even if you have a timeout you can’t ask for a review in the last 2 minutes. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584/38 "2020-01-06T02:46:55Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The ridiculous part is that even if you have a timeout you can’t ask for a review in the last 2 minutes. Why? More plays are given official review in the final 2 minutes because at that close to the end of the game each play is more likely to affect the game’s outcome. To counter that, they disallow coach challenges because the game is already going to be subject to extra delays. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-football-just-really-hard-to-officiate/845584.md?page=1)