tyler735 Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 I think the moral of the story here is that this is something that shouldn't happen. There shouldn't be ex-players reffing a game in which their former team is playing in. That is a bad look for the NFL, and while I think the reffing unit as whole sucked last week, it certainly raises concerns that shouldn't ever be a factor in an NFL game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whodatworm23 Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 26 minutes ago, tyler735 said: I think the moral of the story here is that this is something that shouldn't happen. There shouldn't be ex-players reffing a game in which their former team is playing in. That is a bad look for the NFL, and while I think the reffing unit as whole sucked last week, it certainly raises concerns that shouldn't ever be a factor in an NFL game. This Like I was saying... The NFL put themselves in this position to be questioned and rightfully so. Now you got guys like Bobby Hebert saying the "fix was in" citing the NFL wanting the Christmas eve game to have more significance. Call it crazy but it is factual that the Christmas eve game now has more meaning and likley more ratings with this past win by ATL. These are the things that the NFL opens themselves up too by having refs with potential bias on the field. A couple years ago a noted Saints fan was removed from a Saints game as a potential ref (he was one of the replacement refs) becaise of his facebook account showed him with a Saints jersery on. The NFL immediately removed him from The crew yet they allowed a 7 year vet of the Falcons to call a prime time game in ATL??? The more you dig the worse the smell gets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 51 minutes ago, whodatworm23 said: This Like I was saying... The NFL put themselves in this position to be questioned and rightfully so. Now you got guys like Bobby Hebert saying the "fix was in" citing the NFL wanting the Christmas eve game to have more significance. Call it crazy but it is factual that the Christmas eve game now has more meaning and likley more ratings with this past win by ATL. These are the things that the NFL opens themselves up too by having refs with potential bias on the field. A couple years ago a noted Saints fan was removed from a Saints game as a potential ref (he was one of the replacement refs) becaise of his facebook account showed him with a Saints jersery on. The NFL immediately removed him from The crew yet they allowed a 7 year vet of the Falcons to call a prime time game in ATL??? The more you dig the worse the smell gets! Well look, if the fix was in, it was an extremely poor fix, because the Saints should have won the game. The Saints stopped the Saints, specifically Payton extremely questionable playcalling and Drew Brees terrible decision making. The game wasn't fixed, no game is fixed, and hasn't been for a while. The refs made some poor calls that hurt us badly, and it's a problem with the rule book and reffing in general. Though I agree, the NFL does need to watch out at which refs they assign to which games. But you can't expect refs to not be a fan of a certain team. You have to love football to be a ref, and that probably comes with having a favorite team, and a least favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 1 hour ago, whodatworm23 said: The NFL immediately removed him from The crew yet they allowed a 7 year vet of the Falcons to call a prime time game in ATL??? He was with Atlanta for 5 years, not 7. that was nearly 40 years ago and since then he’s held numerous jobs and been an official for over 20 years. Arthur Blank didn’t even buy the team until almost 20 years after the ref retired from playing. Some questions I’ve yet to see answered. What ties does he have to that team? Who in that organization is he trying to look out for or help out? Who is close enough to risk your job and career for? If the NFL rigged the game, why would they do it with a ref that used to play for the Falcons? Why this game? We’re really not THAT special and there are plenty of important games that they could try to influence. I just don’t see the evidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammymvpknight Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 1 hour ago, domepatrol91 said: He was with Atlanta for 5 years, not 7. that was nearly 40 years ago and since then he’s held numerous jobs and been an official for over 20 years. Arthur Blank didn’t even buy the team until almost 20 years after the ref retired from playing. Some questions I’ve yet to see answered. What ties does he have to that team? Who in that organization is he trying to look out for or help out? Who is close enough to risk your job and career for? If the NFL rigged the game, why would they do it with a ref that used to play for the Falcons? Why this game? We’re really not THAT special and there are plenty of important games that they could try to influence. I just don’t see the evidence. Was it last year that he ref’d the Broncos game...you know the one where the xp was returned for a safety...and Payton was critical of the refs. I think that the officials could potentially have bias against Payton because he’s kinda an a-hole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 2 minutes ago, sammymvpknight said: I think that the officials could potentially have bias against Payton because he’s kinda an a-hole Look at his final penalty. I think that much is a given. that said, it’s not totally unfair. He has a reputation and refs probably get tired of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raves Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Did this guy change the outcome of the game? Probably not. Does this open up the NFL to criticism? Most definitely. Also if the NFL/Refs want to fix a game, they can still only do so much without it being too obvious that the fix is in. A few crucial calls/non-calls are normally enough to give a team the edge in an otherwise close game, such as what this Saints/Falcons game was/should be, but even with those few calls, the team that is getting the beneficial treatment still needs to execute. If Matt Ryan didn't make two completely boneheaded INTs, the Lattimore one was just an amazing play, then the Falcons could've won that game comfortably with the way those early calls went. So although the game might not have been fixed, the way it was officiated, especially early, led to what could've been a comfortable, 1 TD+, Saints victory into what should've been a comfortable Falcons victory if Matt Ryan didn't do all he could to hand us the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid Iowa Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Well, at least it gave us something to talk about. The boards have been dead ever since our winning streak snapped. 13 hours ago, domepatrol91 said: Some questions I’ve yet to see answered. What ties does he have to that team? Who in that organization is he trying to look out for or help out? Who is close enough to risk your job and career for? I just don’t see the evidence. Word on the street is that this guys wife was wearing a lighted Saints sweatshirt to his family's Christmas dinner, this after he requested she take off her Saints jersey. This action sent his mom into a tissy, and she promptly left the dinner table after the ref's wife refused to "at least turn of the lights". Or at least this is what I heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whodatworm23 Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 14 hours ago, domepatrol91 said: He was with Atlanta for 5 years, not 7. that was nearly 40 years ago and since then he’s held numerous jobs and been an official for over 20 years. Arthur Blank didn’t even buy the team until almost 20 years after the ref retired from playing. Some questions I’ve yet to see answered. What ties does he have to that team? Who in that organization is he trying to look out for or help out? Who is close enough to risk your job and career for? If the NFL rigged the game, why would they do it with a ref that used to play for the Falcons? Why this game? We’re really not THAT special and there are plenty of important games that they could try to influence. I just don’t see the evidence. 5 years... 7 years, whatever. The favt is that it opens up potential bias opinions and criticism whether you agree with it or not, especially when a rivalry game is officiated the way that one was. He hasnt played for them for 40 years... Well I havent played for my highschool team in over 20 and i can gaurentee you if i was to ref a game tomorrow between them and our arch rival there would still be some bias in my calls and I cinsider myself to be a fair person. I wasnt agreeing with Hebert nor was I saying this game was fixed... All im pointing out is the reason the NFL for the most part has reframed from having these types of situations exist is for exactly this reason so they have only themselves to blame for the out cry that some fans view as an uneven playing field. Then when you begin to follow this particular refs history calling Saints games it does paint a very questionable picture which only enhances the conspiracy theorist who believe the NFL purposely acted on this. I my self dont buy into that but I do believe that games are fixed both in the past and present. Its clearly a subject that most fans dont wanna accept but its a issuse that i personally believe exist at certain areas of the league and the officials are typically always center stage within that. The NFL and NBA as leagues have done a tremendous job burying stories from former refs that layout an ongoing issuse with tampering by both officials and players. Its stories that most cast off as nonsense but courruption is a part of almost every major busniess in the U.S. so why should we assume the NFL is any different? Its not like they have a pristine track record of high character and honesty to stand on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 14 hours ago, Raves said: Did this guy change the outcome of the game? Probably not. Does this open up the NFL to criticism? Most definitely. This is where I’m at too. Pretty dumb idea, because you’ll always have people that just can’t shake a bit of doubt... but I don’t think it mattered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navysaintsfan Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 I blame Payton for the loss more than anything. This game could have been won even with refs against us (which I don't believe was the case). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcvoodoo Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 10 hours ago, navysaintsfan said: I blame Payton for the loss more than anything. This game could have been won even with refs against us (which I don't believe was the case). I argree with ya navyman. Kamara's concussion was unfortunate, but Payton jumped the gun by abandoning the run game completely. And, the extremely questionable playcalling is the final 4 minutes of the game. First and goal...can escape Atlanta with a win (in their house!) and improve to 10-3...let's run 3 straight pass plays and have Brees force things...yep, that's good coaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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