NFL, refs reach deal to end lockout

The National Football League referees voted and approved their new eight-year deal with the league Saturday, according to the AP.

The measure passed by a vote of 112-5, which officially ends the lockout. Salaries will increase to $173,000 in 2013, and get up to to $205,000 by 2019.Following the vote, which took place in Irving, Texas, many refs will get on planes and fly off to various NFL cities in preparation for Sunday’s games.

After months of deliberations with the National Football League, the referees finally reached an agreement that would have them return to the field for Week 4. Members of the referee’s association will vote by secret ballot Saturday at the DFW Marriott in Irving, Texas, to ratify their new deal with the league.

The two parties had reached a tentative deal earlier in the week that allowed the regular refs to return in time for Thursday night’s game between the Browns and Ravens. The 121 regular officials were locked out in June, and the NFL began the season with replacement officials.

On Friday morning, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote a letter to fans of the league, expressing his apologies for the referee holdout that came to an end Wednesday night:

A labor dispute between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association was not resolved in time for the regular season and for the first three weeks the officials on the field were filled by replacement referees with varying degrees of experience in the sport, but none at the NFL level.

The NFL’s referees returned on Thursday night, replacing the replacements for the first time this year. The ref lockout ended officially on Wednesday night and by Thursday the regular refs were ready to roll.

They even got a standing ovation from the crowd in Baltimore.

The real refs are back, and the crowd in Baltimore gave them a standing ovation.

He’s not shy about soaking it in either. The next time he hears from those Ravens fans, it probably won’t be so nice.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell apologized to fans Thursday during a conference call with reporters that focused on the new contract with the NFL Referees Association. Wednesday’s deal officially ended the use of replacement officials who had been highly scrutinized over the past three weeks of the regular season:

On Wednesday night, Goodell and the NFLRA agreed to a new eight-year contract that immediately allowed the NFL’s refs to return to work after being lockout since the beginning of the preseason. The NFL’s initial plan was to use the replacement referees until a new more favorable deal was reached with the NFLRA.

The seven-man officiating crew will be led by 10-year NFL referee veteran Gene Steratore and also includes 13-year veteran umpire Bill Schuster, head linesman Wayne Mackie, who has six years of NFL refereeing experience, line judge Jeff Seeman, with 11 years as a NFL official under his belt, field judge Bob Waggoner, a 16-year veteran, side judge Jimmy DeBell, who has been officiating in the NFL for four years, and back judge Greg Steed, an official with 10 years of NFL refereeing experience.

The replay official and replay assistant will be Larry Nemmers and Ken Dollar, respectively.

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith echoed growing league-wide player sentiments in a statement on Thursday, noting the alleviation of many safety concerns on the field following the NFL and NFL Referees Association’s agreement on an eight-year collective bargaining deal that ended the official lockout on Wednesday night.

“Our workplace is safer with the return of our professional referees,” Smith said. “We welcome our fellow Union members back on our field.”

Was it a touchdown or was it an interception? It was more like a catalyst or a last straw. The country saw its most popular sport upended, a competition erased by incompetency.

Seattle’s game-winning touchdown -- or Green Bay’s game-losing interception -- finally broke the NFL, sending them running back to the bargaining table amid a public outcry loud enough to drown out a Presidential election. The league and its referees had a deal in 48 hours, after months of intransigence toward locked out referees.

It’s official now: The real refs are coming back this week, and the deal itself doesn’t even matter. All that matters is the funniest controversy of 2012 is now over, and the nation of football fans can return to its regularly scheduled issues of the day, like analyzing Jay Cutler’s body language and hating the Patriots.

Wasn’t it fun while it lasted though? With good refs, we watch football for touchdowns and sacks and beast mode running backs. With bad refs? You never know! Maybe there’ll be a horrible pass interference call that changes the entire game and nearly causes a riot, maybe there’ll be Bill Belichick losing on a questionable field goal and accosting a ref. The replacements just kept one-upping themselves, right up until the end, when they botched a call in the most spectacular way possible. We’ll think back to this insane month for decades.

NFL referees are headed back to work after being locked out for three months. To celebrate, SB Nation gives a warm welcome to referee Ed Hochuli...and his triceps.

America is ready to see Ed Hochuli back, but Ed Hochuli is probably more ready to see America again. In fact, all day Wednesday it appears as if Hochuli was getting ready for his close-up.

Hochuli has been training officials during the lockout in preparation for a resolution. This has probably allowed for a quick turnaround between today’s agreement and the ability for refs to get moving toward officiating NFL games as quickly as Thursday. Hochuli says NFL officials have been watching hours and hours of video while taking 18 extensive rules tests to get themselves ready for an immediate return to action on the pro football field. Whether there will be rust or not remains to be seen, but what is certain is that the NFL referees are well-prepared to handle these circumstances thanks to Hochuli.

The NFL and the NFL Referees Association ended the officials lockout when they agreed to an eight-year collective bargaining agreement Wednesday night.

The major agreement points include a defined benefit pension plan, retirement benefits, an increase in compensation, the option to hire officials on a full-time basis and the ability to form an official training and development program. Goodell said the agreement will allow for long-term reforms that will improve officiating. Complete details of the major agreement points can be found below in the press release from the NFL.

“Our officials will be back on the field starting tomorrow night,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said, according to a press release from the league. “We appreciate the commitment of the NFLRA in working through the issues to reach this important agreement.”

Officials were reportedly holding their own training sessions during the lockout, allowing them to be ready quickly when the deal was reached. Scott Green, the president of the NFLRA, said the board of directors unanimously approved the agreement and it will be put up for a vote. According to Pro Football Talk, the vote won’t come until Friday, but that won’t stop a crew from working Thursday’s game in Baltimore.

The NFL’s lockout with the referees is officially over as the sides came to an agreement late Wednesday. There were reports the sides could be nearing an agreement earlier in the day, but NFL spokesman Greg Aiello made it official Wednesday night.

The agreement ends a more-than-four-month-long ordeal that forced the league to use replacement officials for the first three regular-season games. Despite the lockout, the officials held their own training sessions and will be ready to take over this week when Week 4 action begins on Thursday.

It takes a lot for a referee’s name to trend on Twitter when no games are in progress. Sure, it’s not uncommon in the NFL for a ref to anger a nation, causing the whole trending phenomenon. But it’s a Wednesday night, with nothing but baseball going on.

When Ed Hochuli is trending on Twitter, it’s the surest sign that the NFL’s lockout of its referees is over. Let’s go to the tape.

According to Pro Football Talk, the union officials will gather in Dallas on Friday to receive their equipment and game assignments for Week 4’s action. The same crews who worked together last season will be intact this year. An agreement between the referees and the league had reportedly been in place for much of Wednesday, but it all officially came together on Wednesday night. The terms of the deal have not yet been released.

Replacement officials came under even more scrutiny this week after a controversial ending to the Monday Night Football matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers. As time expired, Golden Tate came down with a Hail Mary that was ruled a simultaneous catch in the end zone. The two officials signaled different things: One a touchdown and the other an interception. After review, the call on the field -- a touchdown -- was upheld, giving the Seahawks the win.

Ed Hochuli, arguably the most well known of the regular NFL referees, has been running training sessions with other regular officials for when a deal between them and the NFL is made. Hochuli has been running them every Tuesday night via a conference call where attendance, according to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, has ranged from 90-110 officials per week.

An unnamed referee was interviewed by King, and said he was happy with how Hochuli has set these sessions up:

After weeks of controversy peaked on Monday, a deal between the NFL and the NFL referee’s association is expected to be completed on Wednesday or Thursday, according to Albert Breer of NFL.com. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports via colleague Chris Mortensen, the two sides are nearly finished with an agreement in principle on a new deal.

One person with experience in these kinds of situations, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, doesn’t think anyone should get too excited yet, though:

The NFL and NFL Referees Association are close to coming to an agreement to end the lockout of the officials, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Twitter that the two sides will work to get the regular officials on the field by this weekend’s set of games.

As of this morning, it was reported that the league and the NFLRA had closed the gap on backup crews but remained at odds over pension plans. After negotiating all of Tuesday and throughout Wednesday morning, the two sides agreed upon a developmental program that would incorporate 21 officials to the current pool of 121 NFLRA members.

The NFL seems to have moved a bit closer to having the legitimate referees this season sooner rather than later. The league and the NFL Referees Association have reportedly come to an agreement on backup crews, though pension still remains a hurdle, according to the NFL Network’s Albert Breer.

The agreement on backup crews is an interesting one, but it at least solves that portion of the problem.

Anderson went on to say, “But it’s pretty clear-cut, in terms of who has control whenever they finish the process of the catch. In my mind, I feel like it’s an interception.”

Anderson has been an NFL referee since 2003. Before that, he served as a line judge for seven years. He worked as a dentist before retiring in 2003.