NFL Referees Association to Challenge Officials’ Suspensions

The NFL Referees Association said Tuesday that it will contest the NFL’s suspensions of two game officials for on-field incidents involving players Sunday.

The NFLRA called the suspensions of line judge Jeff Seeman for two games and referee Adrian Hill for one game “excessive and inconsistent with past precedent.”

The union also said in a statement to Front Office Sports and other media outlets: “Given these concerns, the NFLRA will challenge the severity of those suspensions and meet with the NFL Officiating Department to discuss the League’s disciplinary standards.”

The NFLRA said it “also plans to meet with NFL Players Association leadership to address on-field conduct and the growing levels of confrontation between players and officials.”

The NFL announced the suspensions Monday and said each punishment was “for an instance of unprofessional conduct toward a player” in Sunday’s games. The league said the suspensions were imposed by Ramon George, the NFL’s vice president of officiating.

The NFL declined to comment Tuesday.

The Incidents

Seeman was involved in a verbal exchange with Cardinals tight end Trey McBride following a fourth-quarter play during Arizona’s game against the Giants at MetLife Stadium. McBride was on the sideline when Seeman was caught on camera appearing to curse at the tight end. Officials did not call a penalty on a Giants defender on the play.

It was not clear what McBride said to Seeman.

During the Dolphins-Vikings game, Hill gestured and appeared to yell at Minnesota linebacker Eric Wilson after being knocked to the ground by Wilson on a play that was whistled dead because of a penalty. Wilson was being blocked by a Miami player, and his contact with Hill appeared inadvertent.

“NFL officials have a responsibility to conduct themselves professionally on the field, and the actions in these incidents fell short of that standard,” Scott Green, the executive director of the NFLRA, said in a written statement. “Accountability matters, but that should not result in discipline that is excessive or inconsistent with established precedent.

“Officials are routinely subjected to highly charged interactions and, at times, verbal abuse from players and coaches. While that never excuses misconduct by an official, it shouldn’t be dismissed as simply part of the game. The League expects the highest level of professionalism from its officials, and it should demand the same from everyone on the field.”

The NFLRA did not immediately respond to a question from FOS about whether it contends that Seeman and Hill were subjected to abusive treatment by players during Sunday’s games.

“Referees get talked to in a very nasty way,” former Colts center Jeff Saturday, later the team’s head coach, said during a studio show Tuesday on ESPN. He added: “Yeah, they’ll cuss back at you. I never took it personal.”

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was penalized during his team’s game Sunday for a sideline exchange with an official in which he appeared to use profanity.

The NFLRA is expected to file a grievance on behalf of the officials to challenge the suspensions. The NFL and NFLRA did not specify the details of their dispute-resolution process to FOS.

“We will defend the principle that discipline must be fair, consistent and proportionate,” the NFLRA’s Green said in his statement. “Holding officials accountable while ignoring or minimizing the conduct directed at them is neither fair nor an effective way to address this issue. We look forward to working with the League and NFLPA toward that shared goal.”

The NFLPA did not immediately comment to FOS on Tuesday on the NFLRA’s stated intention to meet about issues between players and officials.

JC Tretter, the NFLPA’s executive director, wrote on social media Sunday in response to the incident between Seeman and McBride: “This kind of behavior from an official towards a player is unacceptable. Players are consistently held accountable when the roles are reversed. We expect the NFL to hold officials to the same standard.”

Suspension Precedent

NFL suspensions of officials are rare but not unprecedented.

The league temporarily placed umpire Roy Ellison on administrative leave and then fined him one game check reportedly worth $9,300 in 2018 after he was accused of directing derogatory language at Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes.

The league suspended side judge Rob Vernatchi in 2015 for failing to notice an erroneous 18-second runoff of the game clock during a Chargers-Steelers game.

The NFL suspended Ellison for one game in 2013 for “making a profane and derogatory statement” at offensive tackle Trent Williams, then with Washington, during a game. The Fritz Pollard Alliance, the diversity group that works closely with the NFL, said that Williams directed a profanity and a racial slur at Ellison. Williams denied using a racial slur and said he “never directed any derogatory statement toward any referee,” The Washington Post reported at the time. Both men are Black.