NFL Teams That Will Never Live Down Their Embarrassing Mistakes

Replacement Refs To The Rescue? Not So Much

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In 2012 the NFL and the NFL Referees Association had trouble coming to a new labor agreement. In an attempt to leverage the situation, the league locked out their current referees from games and used replacement referees. The move backfired miserably on the NFL, as referees who only had high school level experience were thrust onto the national stage. The league lost all leverage after the “Fail Mary,” when the replacement referees called a hail mary pass incorrectly to end a Monday Night Football game between the Packers and Seahawks. The internet ate up the carnage left in the ref’s wake. The days that followed saw the NFL admit they made a huge mistake and work out an agreement with the NFLRA immediately.