Integrity of NFL games was at risk. New deal brings sigh of relief | Opinion

Wait, Scab Refs aren’t coming to the NFL, after all?

Hallelujah.

Word came down Friday that the league and the NFL Referees Association have agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement, replacing the CBA that was set to expire on May 31 and ending the possibility that replacement officials would be used during the 2026 season.

What a lead-in to the NFL’s much-hyped schedule release coming next week.

The gambler next door will surely breath a sigh of relief. Ditto for all NFL fans, as the most popular sports league in the land faced the possibility of having games tainted by shabby replacement officials. So, here’s to the integrity of those monster matchups the league is poised to reveal the dates for next week.

Remember, the last time the refs had a work stoppage, in 2012, the standoff went into late September, finally resolved after the blown call known as “The Fail Mary” cost the Green Bay Packers a nationally televised victory on “Monday Night Football.”

It wasn’t too long ago when both sides were firing some heavy artillery from their respective cannons. A negotiating session in March, which was scheduled for two days, didn’t even get past the lunch break on Day 1, and the NFLRA slammed the NFL for sending “empty suits” to the session without the authority to strike a deal.

What really put the NFLRA, led by former referee Scott Green, into a tizzy was the league’s plan to recruit replacement officials from the college level. The idea was to make the hires a lot earlier than they did in 2012, then begin training the replacements as early as May, with a headstart on a heavy training camp load. In 2012, the replacements didn’t get enlisted until July.

Well, it turns out that earlier is seemingly better in another sense.

After all, there’s always enough drama with the regular refs – so highly qualified, I might add. Controversy from questionable calls by replacement officials is the last thing the NFL needs to go with a long, drawn-out labor dispute that would have doused the excitement of a new season.