newjerseynewsroom.com

BY GINA G. SCALA

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

When Week Four of the National Football League kicks off tonight in Baltimore, there’s going to be an audible sigh of relief. Fans, players and coaches of every team will nod their head in appreciation and agreement, probably for the only time this season.

And probably for the only time this season the regular refs be welcomed back into every stadium by every team and fan with open arms. By now, you know the refs ratified a deal with the NFL late Wednesday, just two days after replacement refs blew a call that cost the Green Bay Packers a victory.

"We are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's games," NFL Referees Association president Scott Green told ESPN.

Under the tentative agreement, the refs’ annual salary will increase from $149,000 last season to $173,000 in 2013 and to $205,000 in 2019, ESPN reported. The deal must still be ratified by 51 percent of 121-member union; scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Dallas, according to ESPN.

The proposed contract is for eight years and provides the pension plan will remain in effect for current officials through 2016; or until a current official hits 20 years of service). The plan will then be frozen.

Next season the league will have the ability to hire a number of officials on a full-time basis to work year-round, including on the field.

"Something like this, it's painful for everybody," Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, said. "Most importantly, it's painful for fans. We're sorry to have to put fans through that."

Goodell said that, as a fan of the NFL, he'd never want to see a game marred by officiating as Monday Night’s Packers last-minute loss to Seattle was.

“Anytime you have these controversies, they stay with us. There are a lot of calls that are looked back in history. That's a part of sports. That's a part of history. … I know the great Packer fans -- as frustrating and disappointed as they are in the outcome -- they also understand that's something that's happened for decades."

If that’s Goodell's idea of an apology; he needs to work on it. But as a lifelong football fan, I am not sure I care for an apology or what all the details of the proposed agreement are. I am just grateful when my BIG BLUE takes on those Angry Birds in Philly Sunday night, the real refs will be on the field officiating the game.

Go Big Blue!