The Baltimore Ravens are trying to make the NFL just a little bit better. This offseason, the Ravens offered up two proposals to alter the officiating that will be considered and voted on during the NFL’s Annual Meeting later in March.
Both Baltimore and the Los Angeles Chargers proposed adding a “booth umpire” and a “senior technology advisor” to every game in an effort to provide better officiating.
Considering the NFL’s public issues with in-game calls and replays, it seems like an easy decision to make. The more officials, especially up in the booth and on replays, the more chances officials have to get calls right in the moment.
This isn’t the first time the Ravens have brought up the idea of adding more officials. Harbaugh publicly called for an extra one or two officials and expanded replays, according to NFL.com, to make sure the right calls are made and replays accurately fix any missed or incorrect calls.
If we can put somebody up there in the box that’s got a better angle that can help officiate the game from up there, let’s do that. If we can add more plays into replay, let’s do that. Because at the end of the game it’s about the credibility of the sport, and we can’t have the other leagues out-pacing us in terms of the use of technology to make sure the games are fair and well-officiated.
We have great officials. These guys are incredible at what they do. We’ve also put a lot of rules in place that have made it really tough on them. They’ve got a lot on their plate, so let’s add an official, let’s add two officials, let’s put one up in the box, let’s expand replay if we want, and let’s make sure at the end of the day the fans walk out of the stadium and walk away from the TV sets knowing that was a good, hard-fought, well-played, fairly officiated game, and the outcome is as it should be. That it was correct and the right team won the game.
This also isn’t the only potential changes coming to the officiating crews as early as next season. The NFL has already begun changing the leadership at the top of their officiating department, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
