The NFL Referees Association is pushing back. A day after the league suspended line judge Jeff Seeman for two games and referee Adrian Hill for one game, the union said Tuesday it will formally challenge the severity of the punishments, calling them "excessive and inconsistent with past precedent."
The suspensions, announced Monday by NFL vice president of officiating Ramon George, are an extremely rare move against on-field officials. Seeman dropped an f-bomb on Cardinals tight end Trey McBride during the Cardinals-Giants game, after McBride protested a no-call and said Seeman was "ruining the game." Hill confronted Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson during the Vikings-Dolphins game, getting in his face after Wilson accidentally knocked him down while breaking up a post-whistle scrum.
The incidents had already drawn heavy fire. NFLPA executive director JC Tretter called the behaviour "unacceptable" and demanded officials be held to the same standard as players, while Peyton Manning joked on air that if referees are going to curse at players, they should at least "get the fumble right."
Union executive director Scott Green said the association will meet with the NFL Officiating Department on disciplinary standards and with NFLPA leadership about growing player-official confrontations — acknowledging officials face verbal abuse "at times" but insisting it "never excuses misconduct."
