You are incorrect — there are now full time NFL officials — one of whom is Brad Allen of which there is no finer official or man of integrity, I know him personally. The NDL has hired full time officials and may transition ultimately to those positions. What is important to know is that each of the aforementioned officials has a masters degree or better which used to be the requirement if I am not mistaken because of the complexities of the rules.
Okay, I stand corrected. For the 2018-19 season the league opened up 24 of the 127 slots for full time officials being used as an 8th field official. So the remainder of the slots were part time.
The actual job description reads that the application person has no specific educational requirements to become an NFL referee, though it is expected, that they would have passed high school and would have a bachelor’s degree. NFL referees need to have at least 10 years of officiating experience in football games. Of these 10 years, 5 years should have been spent officiating major college level games. A major criterion for getting hired as an NFL referee is that they should be in an excellent physical condition and should be members of accredited football associations or have prior football experience as players or coaches.
So calling an official full time has the same criteria for employment as the part time folks for the purposes of coverage. And they are not filling any field slots as the 8th position is an addition to the crew’s assignments.
When I was calling National Federation and NCAA before my health went south. I was friends with a few of the NFL men on the west coast crews. I haven’t discovered anyone among them that wasn’t a good man. But there’s a difference between calling things the way they think it should be called and how the league wants it done. There are a number of types of calls that the league wants to have happen so they can get the stadiums filled. And the officials are employees, whether part of full time.
Officiating football is a game of experience. Learning how to read the situation, get the best position to see and beyond, and being decisive is a majority of the need and time on the field along with good clinics are the answer. But the most important thing is to call the game the way the product is being presented. And as long as the league insists upon having so much say in determining what is and is not going to be called, there are going to be some problems. The “league” as a whole, is made up of owners that like money. It’s their league and their teams and they determine the product. And it is a product, not a sport, believe me. It’s there to make money, first and foremost, just like Walmart.
rwood