Near the top of the pyramid of thankless jobs resides NFL official. It’s up there with working for the Internal Revenue Service. Parallels abound between the two ire-raising vocations. Like the IRS, NFL officials keep people from cheating, represent the red-tape bureaucracy, and are essential to the functioning of a beloved American institution. (Football might supersede democracy.)
Yet, there’s no sympathy for the tax man and no sympathy for NFL officials. When the system works, the striped sentinels blend into the background, doing their jobs industriously and anonymously like offensive linemen. But this season, they’re at the forefront of angst, controversy, and acrimony, far too visible for the good of the game or their own good.
They’re asked to adjudicate more than ever, and they’re more involved than ever, thanks to the trivial pursuit nature of the NFL. Last Sunday, we crossed the referee Rubicon with three incidents, two that resulted in NFL-issued suspensions for officials behaving disrespectfully toward players, and one involving an unsportsmanlike conduct flag thrown on Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel for profanely complaining about a call.
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On Monday, the NFL suspended line judge Jeff Seeman, caught on camera cursing out Cardinals tight end Trey McBride in response to McBride pleading for pass interference, for two games and punished referee Adrian Hill, who reacted angrily and aggressively towards Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson after Wilson was blocked into Hill, for one game. The NFL cited instances of unprofessional conduct toward players in the suspensions, levied by NFL vice president of officiating Ramon George.
The NFL Referees Association, which engaged in an acrimonious collective bargaining negotiation with the league before reaching an agreement in May, is challenging the severity of the suspensions. In a statement, NFLRA executive director Scott Green acknowledged the two officials fell short of the standard of professional conduct but pointed out the incessant scurrility that officials are subjected to: “Holding officials accountable while ignoring or minimizing the conduct directed at them is neither fair nor an effective way to address this issue.”
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Line judge Jeff Seeman was suspended for two games for swearing at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride on Sunday.
Line judge Jeff Seeman was suspended for two games for swearing at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride on Sunday.
One example Green and his union would point to is Vrabel haranguing down judge Frank LeBlanc following a questionable defensive holding call on Marcus Jones in the second quarter of the victory over the Bills. Vrabel, a member of the NFL’s Competition Committee that oversees rule changes, acknowledged he told LeBlanc it was a “terrible [bleeping] call,” but said he thought LeBlanc “was a little sensitive.”
These incidents aren’t just Officials Gone Wild. They’re the natural result of overwhelmed employees being asked to enforce too many things. The NFL has overinvolved the officials in the game, asking them to pick up trivial points and issue an ever-growing panoply of penalties.
If you think more yellow laundry is finding the field, it’s not your imagination.
According to ESPN, the 963 accepted penalties in the first four weeks of a season are the most since play-by-play data became available in 1978. The NFL put out its own data, pointing out that total fouls per game through Week 4 (16.86) are actually down from this period last year (17.44).
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Total fouls per game for the full 2025 season measured 15.08, down slightly from 15.24 in 2024. But that number was 13.63 in 2023.
There are simply too many flags, and the NFL’s flag football forces observers to pause and question reality.
When Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson broke loose for a 59-yard touchdown against the Saints last Monday, ESPN’s Joe Buck preemptively announced as Robinson approached the 20-yard line with only pay dirt ahead, “There are no flags.” Buck knew what every viewer was thinking as they watched Robinson gallop for a surefire touchdown: Is what I’m seeing the actual result or is it subject to referee revision that will rewrite reality?
BIJAN GETS THINGS STARTED EARLY@ATLvsNO on ESPN⁰Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/2WkWScWreu
— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2026
Like a field goal drifting astray, that’s no good.
Ideally, officials should be a combination of the stagehands and the security personnel at a concert, essential to the show going off without a hitch but unnoticeable. Now, they’re center stage due to debatable judgment calls, picayune penalties, and acrimony with players and coaches.
Some of their sins are — like the penalties they’re advised to call — venial. Others are major mistakes that impact the outcome of games. For example, the NFL admitted to Rams coach Sean McVay that a pass interference call that negated a game-sealing interception in his team’s Sept. 27 loss to the Broncos was incorrect.
But even with coaches challenges, replay assist, and automatic reviews for scoring plays and turnovers, there remains no foolproof system. There are no perfect officials, only fallible humans, just like the players and coaches.
The latest collective bargaining agreement governing officials focused on refining and improving the performance of the NFL’s rules enforcers. Compensation became less linked to seniority and more tied to performance. Offseason training expanded.
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The whistleblowers experience heightened scrutiny and little sympathy. No wonder the men and women in stripes are behaving like an aggressive endangered species.
They’re gluttons for punishment from the league, from players, coaches, fans, frustrated gamblers, and the fantasy football industrial complex. They can’t possibly placate all of those constituencies, each of which carry their own priorities, agendas, and biases.
Perhaps, it’s time for further review of what the NFL asks from its officials. They’re too involved for everyone’s taste.