DENVER, CO – JANUARY 19: NFL referees walk in the stadium prior to the AFC Championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 19, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
NFLBy Kevin Trahan on

The NFL has had its issues with referees through the years, most recently when a collective bargaining dispute brought the infamous “replacement refs” to the league in 2012.

The league still doesn’t have full-time refs, and in the offseason, they can be seen in the courtroom and on the college basketball court.

Now, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert and Adam Schefter, the NFL is considering making its referees full-time employees.

There’s no empirical evidence that says referees will be better if the job is full-time, and the NFL will have to pay them well-enough to still attract top talent. However, logically, if the pay is good, then top officials will want to become full-time refs and spend more time practicing their craft.

But if this means I don’t get to see Gene Steratore at lightly-attending Northwestern basketball games anymore, it might not be worth it.

About Kevin Trahan

Kevin mostly covers college football and college basketball, with an emphasis on NCAA issues and other legal issues in sports. He is also an incoming law student. He's written for SB Nation, USA Today, VICE Sports, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

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