dbatesman Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Per Schefter: As @mortreport is reporting, an agreement between NFL and NFLRA is at hand and both sides will work to have officials working this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbatesman Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 And Mort: Sources: Ref lockout could end soon Updated: September 26, 2012, 12:22 PM ET By Chris Mortensen | ESPN The NFL and the NFL Referees Association made enough progress in negotiations Tuesday night that the possibility of the locked-out officials returning in time to work this week's games has been discussed, according to sources on both sides. An agreement in principle is at hand, according to one source familiar to talks, although NFL owners have postured with a "no more compromise" stance. Although league sources said it would take a week to get the locked-out officials on the field, the NFLRA says its 121 referees have been trained on the new rules implemented last season, have already passed physicals or are prepared to pass physicals immediately. New official game uniforms designed by Nike are "hardly an obstacle," according to a source. Both sides have made concessions on previous sticking points such as a taxi squad of 21 new officials and pension plans that sources say the final meaningful hurdle is, as one source said, "about a little more money." While league sources say owners who participated in a conference call with commissioner Roger Goodell during Tuesday's talks had instructed the negotiating team to set a firm barrier for the financial settlement, the NFLRA is prepared to accept a new agreement primarily in the form of a "ratification bonus," which would compensate its 121-member union for concessions it is willing to make. The NFLRA and the league have all but agreed on developing a 21-member "taxi squad" that Goodell has pushed, but not at the financial cost of the union members. The NFLRA, citing that it once utilized the now-defunct NFL Europe as a training ground of prospective officials, is willing to train 21 officials from the major college ranks by including them in offseason seminars as well as incorporate them in training camp work. The NFLRA would not unionize those officials and would want them compensated by the league if "they are brought up from the minors" to work a regular-season game. Goodell has wanted the power to "bench" officials who underperform or are downgraded during the season. The NFLRA contends the league already has that ability because there are always between one and four crews that sit home each week and would be more qualified to substitute in such a scenario. The NFLRA also wants to form an "expert committee" that would be major contributors to the league's stated goal to improve officiating. Under this proposal, the committee would be comprised of some of the top retired officials and supervisors of major college conferences who had served as NFL officials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyHector Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) Hochuli is ready to get back to work after putting in additional reps at the gym during the lockout. Is PED testing for the refs part of the agreement? Edited September 26, 2012 by JohnnyHector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiF Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Whats the rush? I though the league agreed that the officials got it right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Wow, what a coincidence for this to be taken care of so quickly after Monday. I think everyone pretty much saw this one coming. The NFLRA and the league have all but agreed on developing a 21-member "taxi squad" that Goodell has pushed, but not at the financial cost of the union members. This in particular I think is great news to hear. For all of the attempts to play the referees off as innocent victims in this whole situation, the fact that they were refusing this was absolutely absurd, especially after what a disaster last season's officiating was. While these scab officials may have been even worse, the old ones have a long way to go before they're anything more than a slightly better version of crappy themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE ILK Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Good, they do a much better job at following the script! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faba Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Well not surprising this coming to a close now-at least we can complain about the permanent refs again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crusher Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Roger: Hey Ed how's it going? Ed H: Sup BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt39 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 apparently they arent close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Bit Special Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Meh. They'll suck just as bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsFanInDenver Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 This is good news for the stars. They can go back to the world where they got the star treatment from the refs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Meh. They'll suck just as bad. At least the NFL's darling teams will no longer after to deal with something so audacious as calls being made against them. Talk about the nerve of those scabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 On a related note, I just stumbled across this for the first time, and felt it was appropriate to put it here. Definitely good for a chuckle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashmouth Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) Known for Plenty of controversial calls themselves I'll laugh my ass off if they sh*t the bed this weekend and blow a few calls. They will be under the microscope just as much as the scabs IMO. Guess the NFL can take back control of the games now. Get ready for about 10 400 yard passing games and some 5 TD games to boot. Edited September 26, 2012 by Smashmouth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn306 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Told you. One Belichick got pissed off the deal would basically be done this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RutgersJetFan Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 And here I thought the way the CTU strike ended would be the funniest ending to a labor disagreement all year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 not so fast. that report is coming from Mort who is about as useful as a fart in a spacecraft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kay_gee Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) and someone retweeted a Drudge Report bulletin that they were nowhere close. sh*t. Last time I trust Drudge & Twitter for news. Edited September 26, 2012 by kay_gee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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