Why don't NFL officials get fined for making bad calls? BQ inside!?

They do, we just don't or rarely hear about it. I can think of 2 off the top of my head.

1) Patriots/Colts on 11/4/07. Game was almost decided by the refs, in which their were not only bad calls favoring 1 team, but the penalty yardage differential was a concern:

NE - 10 penalties for 146 yards.

IND - 4 penalties for 25 yards.

2) Last year's Chargers/Broncos game on 9/14. In which the refs blew a call, which was a Cutler fumble, yet the refs say the blew the whistle, making the play dead. Yet nobody could hear any whistle.

BQ: Being a Seahawks fan, all I have to say is Super Bowl XL, in which the Steelers got a number of favorable calls.

While I feel your pain, you have to realize that the refs are human too. They do make mistakes..and sometimes they affect the outcome of a game. I agree that there should be some kind of 'punishment' for making "bad" calls...like maybe a suspension, or a fine after 3 proven ones. Something like that.

The worst one I remember is the Troy Polamolu interception that they ruled was not a catch and then after the game they admitted that it WAS a catch, but they upheld the ruling on the field anyway.

~Peace~

Update:

The play I was talking about was actually a fumble recovery, he took in for a touchdown, but they called it back, nullifying the touchdown, so that the score would remain a first ever 11-10. They said it didn't affect the outcome of the game because the Steelers still won. I bet there are some people who bet on the spread who disagree with that...

I agree with you. I don't think fining is the appropriate way to get good performance because football officials are not doing it for the money. They do it because they enjoy it. They work 20 or more years just to get to where they are and they are much more motivated by being thought of as unworthy among their peers or losing their position entirely. That is why the evaluation system is set up and the punishments are not being rehired or, in particularly egregious cases, suspension. The question should be, how do you eliminate human error from the system? The NFL and NCAA have tried to use replay to do some of this. However, until you eliminate incomplete passes, fumbles, shanked kicks, missed tackles, etc from the game, you will have to live with a certain amount of human error.

I do agree they should be diciplined for being way off, such as the fumble ruling AFTER a replay in Indy this weekend where they got it wrong. That ball should have been spotted first and goal at the 3 yard line, instead it was indy's ball.

But in all seriousness, no one call determines a 60 minute game it might make a difference but it doesn't determine the outcome.

Worst call i have ever seen was the Denver / Chargers game last season and the AFC Championship game where Ellis Hobbs was flagged PI for face guarding which isn't against NFL rules.

But all in all, bad call or not those 2 or three plays don't determine the outcome of the game.

Blown calls happen, man. They have ALWAYS happened. Officials are human and mistakes are made. The thing about the call you are referring to is... You couldn't see where McNabb's other elbow was or if it had already touched down. The rules of instant replay are... "if there is NOT clear evidence to turn the call over, you have to go by the call on the field".

There are two choices here in my humble opinion...

Either completely take human officials out of it and go totally by video officiating or...

Leave it the hell alone.

YEA NO CRAP!! I say for that official Sunday Night he should be fired, for making such a crap a** call. It was freAking obvious that McNabb had the first down!! BULLcrap, but we did lose to Dallas, but with better officiating maybe it would have been a different outcome, it's not like there was a huge blowout they didnt play much better.

Hating the Cowboys for 21years

Go Eagles Go Green!!

I don't think a fine should be given, though I absolutely see your logic. But the fact of the matter is - refs make mistakes, just like the rest of us. And it's not as if he was INTENTIONALLY making dumb calls in a given situation. Making an error shouldn't get you a fine unless it was clearly a matter of purposely doing it.

BQ: Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots in the 2002 AFC Championship Game. Brady fumbled that ball that was returned for a touchdown, though it was called back being called an "incomplete pass". The refs costed them the game, I don't care what anyone says.

since they have started allowing coaches to challenge calls they have kept a record of what calls get reversed. most ref's have above an 80% accuracy on their calls. Some ref's get fired for bad calls.

the worst call I have ever seen

College- Colorado's 5th down, I know the person who blew that call, he is the High school Principal in the next town. that one call did change the game and give Colorado a national championship.

pros the personal foul called on Cory Stringer against the cowboys, a few years back, the problem was Stringer had been dead for 2 years. it was the Cowboy wearing that number that should have been called, you need to be able to throw a flag on a penalty.

They do face some kind of action when they make bad calls!

BQ.Last years Chargers vs Denver, official had blown the play dead when is was clearly a fumble.It cost the Chargers the game!