The NFL is finally taking action against its inept officiating. On Thursday, Football Zebras reported that the NFL had fired three officials—but with a twist. The three recently hired officials are heading back to college — literally.
From Football Zebras:
The three officials were essentially relegated back to Power conferences in college football, a move that was specifically brokered by George, according to five officiating sources. Previously, officials that have been dismissed were on their own accord to return to collegiate football.
The three officials that the NFL has placed back into the Power 5 conferences are second-year umpire James Carter, third-year line judge Robin DeLorenzo, and first-year down judge Robert Richeson. Carter was an alternate official in the wild card round last season, but due to multiple injuries at the position, that may have been a necessity. DeLorenzo did not qualify for a postseason game in her two eligible seasons. Richeson was not playoff eligible as he was only in his first season.
So, is this the NFL actually cracking down on its officiating, or is this more of a show to say, "Hey, look, we are holding these guys accountable."
The NFL has increased its accountability measures under VP/officiating Ramon George. Football Zebras has learned that 3 officials recently hired by the NFL have been dismissed, but it is the novel way that this was carried out that is noteworthy.https://t.co/GQct8quOUW
— Fᴏᴏᴛʙᴀʟʟ Zᴇʙʀᴀs🇺🇦 (@footballzebras) April 9, 2025
NFL officiating has been rotten for years, and it goes beyond the league hiring bad officials. Officiating is so bad for many reasons, but the NFL has always refused to address it. Fans often think the NFL is against their team when, in actuality, all 32 teams are victims of bad officiating at some point. Is it fair that these three officials become the scapegoats for a leaguewide problem?
Officiating errors are often heavily discussed on social media every Sunday during the season. Are we to believe that removing these three officials is supposed to fix the problem?
Let's go back to Week 15 of the 2024 season, when the Washington Commanders played the New Orleans Saints. The Commanders were in the middle of a push to the playoffs, while the Saints were playing for pride. Due to this egregious officiating mistake, the game came down to the last play.
Refs stopped the game clock for 4 seconds when it should have been running
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 15, 2024
freezes at :09 while play clock ticks from :39 to :35
game should have been over
how can they make a mistake like this pic.twitter.com/aWyIGWb9Hy
The Saints would get more one play thanks to a clock stoppage that should not have been. They would score a touchdown, but chose to go for the two-point conversion, and they failed. Washington fortunately escaped with a win and decided not to make waves with the NFL. What would have happened if the Commanders had lost?
How did the ...
