Disaster Awaits the NFL If Replacement Referees Return in 2026

The year was 2012.

Drew Brees broke Johnny Unitas’s record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Calvin Johnson reset the NFL’s single-season receiving record and Adrian Peterson fell nine yards short of the single-season rushing record. Tom Brady didn’t even have a full hand worth of Super Bowl rings yet. And replacement referees were causing a stir across the league.

The NFL has changed significantly over the last 14 years since that record-breaking 2012 season, but some things remain the same. Namely, poor officiating.

Officiating has been a subject of debate for decades. Even with instant replay and improved technology, there are still officiating controversies on a weekly basis in the NFL. Just last month the NFL admitted they made a mistake overturning an Aaron Rodgers interception in a crucial Steelers-Ravens game.

Yet officiating hit perhaps an all-time low in 2012, when the NFL and NFL Referees Association failed to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement by June, and the NFL hired replacement referees to officiate games during the lockout.

Replacement referees could be on their way back to the NFL in 2026. The NFLRA’s current CBA is expected to expire in May, and according to ESPN, the NFL is laying groundwork to hire replacement referees if they are unable to come to terms on a new CBA.

If the NFL were to turn to replacement referees again, it would be a disaster. Look no further than that 2012 campaign, which saw replacement referees make baffling mistakes over their three week tenure officiating games for the NFL.

Here’s a look back at what happened when replacement referees took over in 2012, and why the NFL must avoid using them this time around.

Revisiting the last time the NFL turned to replacement referees

After the NFL and NFLRA were unable to reach a new CBA, the NFL turned to replacement referees to begin the 2012 season. It didn’t take long for the decision to backfire.

The replacement referee situation came to a head in the Week 3 Monday Night Football game between the Packers and Seahawks, a.k.a, the infamous “Fail Mary.” The Packers were up 12-7 with eight seconds remaining when Russell Wilson tossed a pass toward Golden Tate in the end zone. Both Tate and Packers safety M.D. Jennings caught the ball, and one official called for a touchdown while another seemed to signal a turnover. Though Jennings had greater possession of the football, the play was ultimately ruled a touchdown for a Seahawks’ win.

September 24, 2012: The Fail Mary pic.twitter.com/6uFY7cmb3B
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) September 24, 2022

In the aftermath of the game, Packers guard T.J. Lang garnered record traction of Twitter for saying, “F--- it NFL.. Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs.” Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers said, “I’ve got to do something that the NFL is not going to do, and I have to apologize to the fans.” Two days later, the NFL and NFLRA ended the lockout two days later, and regular officials returned to the field.

The Fail Mary was the tipping point, but it was far from the only mistake replacement referees made during their three weeks on the job. Some were cartoonish, from replacement side judge Brian Stropolo being pulled from a Saints-Panthers game hours before kickoff after his Facebook page revealed he was a Saints fan to Cowboys receiver Kevin Ogletree slipping on an official’s hat. Some errors displayed a lack of mastery of the rulebook, including then-49ers coach Jim Harbaugh mistakenly being award two extra challenges or the Seahawks receiving an extra timeout in a loss to the Cardinals.

Others were critical though, such as the replacement judges not penalizing a violent helmet-to-helmet strike that resulted in Darrius Heyward-Bey going to the hospital or mistakenly giving the Titans 27 yards on a 15-yard penalty in their overtime win over the Lions.

Will the NFL turn to replacement referees?

As it stands, ESPN reports that the NFL is compiling a list of approximately 150 referees from small colleges by the end of the weekend. They could begin onboarding in April, and if a new CBA isn’t reached with the NFLRA, they would train through the summer.

It would be irresponsible to turn back to replacement referees. Yes, officials currently make controversial calls and decisions, but the replacement officials didn’t always have a grasp for the basics of the game, including rules regarding timeouts, challenges and penalty yardage. They stained the NFL’s credibility and changed the outcome of multiple games. The NFL and NFLRA might not be close to a new CBA, but it must be a priority for the league to avoid going through 2012 all over again.

Revisiting the last time the NFL turned to replacement referees

Will the NFL turn to replacement referees?

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