Locked-Out NFL Officials Claim They’re ‘Ready to Negotiate’ After Replacements Refs Set to Begin Season

by abournenesn

Aug 29, 2012

Locked-Out NFL Officials Claim They're 'Ready to Negotiate' After Replacements Refs Set to Begin SeasonThe NFL has all but made it official that replacement referees will start the season on the field. As expected, that decision isn't going over well with the locked-out officials but it may be just the spark needed to see some progress between the two sides.

 

The "real officials," as many experts are calling the locked-out refs, were upset by the move and are claiming that it's not their fault for the lack of negotiations, according to Pro Football Talk.

"It now appears the NFL is willing to forgo any attempt to reach a
deal in the last seven days before opening night," the NFL Referees
Association said in a statement on Wednesday.  The NFLRA went on to accuse the league of selfishly taking a "take it or leave it" approach to the talks.

"It is unfortunate because the Referees want to get back on the
field," the NFLRA's statement said.  "Our members have been engaged in extensive
preparations and are ready to go. If the NFL is serious about
negotiating, we are ready, but we can't negotiate with ourselves."

The negotiations have been non-existent for a few weeks now and a deal doesn't look imminent, even with some of the horrid officiating that has been seen around the league throughout the preseason. The NFL did respond later on Wednesday night, as spokesperson Greg Aiello used Twitter to get the word out that the league was also prepared to resume talks.

"On the NFLRA, we are prepared to resume negotiations at any time," Aiello released via Twitter. "NFLRA talks to the media a lot more than it talks to us."

While some of the claims from the NFL executives have been enough to hold fans and players at bay for the time being, once games begin to matter or injuries start piling up is when we'll see the true outrage on full blast.

For the sake of the integrity of the game as well as the safety of the players, let's hope it doesn't get to that point.

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