The Replacement Refs in the NFL: Like leaving your kids with your in-laws

The Refs are back.

There is enough banter on the internet, talk radio and television about the path that the NFL is on now that the games are in the hands of replacement refs. At present, it is no longer difficult to see the consequences on player safety, coaching strategy and game outcome. In general, the consensus is that little good can come from using replacement referees in NFL games. In fact, the entire season may be tainted and the long term consequences yet to be visualized.

I find analogies the easiest way to grasp complex concepts.

Let’s turn to our children. Parents spend every waking moment jockeying through various activities, outings and opportunities to provide their children with life experiences that position them to reach their potential. We surround them with loving family, engage them with friends with similar ideals, send them to school and integrate into religious communities. These experiences reinforce parents’ values and provide a set of morals for their children. In the same way, coaches and trainers provide a supportive environment for athletes to reach their full potential.

For personal and professional reasons, parents need a vacation.

Jet-setting parents call upon their in-laws to watch their kids. The in-laws know the rules. The in-laws understand the rule. But somehow, life today moves much faster than when you were a kid (and they we parents, rather than grandparents). There are also many more rules, activities, options and other variables at play. The cope with the new situation, rules are bent, broken or ignored. Your kids stay up past bedtime; have more screen time; eat more candy; disregard their chores; the list goes on.

We can all agree that a one-day parent-vacation does harm, but nothing that cannot be reset. We can all agree that the longer the parent-vacation, the more that rule-breaking becomes the norm. These new behavioral patterns become the norm; reversing the bad habits that have been learned can take days, weeks, months. In the worst case scenario, the extended rule breaking can have permanent effects.

What are the NFL players and coaches experiencing? The rule book has been abridged. The more obscure rules can be ignored. Play quickly, before a decision can be made.

With the new focus on players learning ‘heads-up’ technique to prevent concussion, we can only hope that the new bad habits can be reversed quickly with the return of the union referees.

Upon return from the parent-vacation, we never know what mine field we come home to. We can only hope to maintain out sanity, enforce the rules, rather than instill marshal law.