The 2023-24 NFL season has reached its halfway point and during the past eight weeks, a prevalent storyline is the poor quality of officiating.
Questionable calls have outraged coaches. Former players have decried how badly that subpar officiating has impacted games. Rules analysts are struggling to explain decisions from their previous colleagues. And the league itself is increasingly defensive over penalties (or non-penalties) that have puzzled media and fans.
Is the game now too fast for officials? Are they too reliant on replay reviews, figuring better camera angles will fix rulings that might be wrong? ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III has another theory based on what players are telling him. On the latest SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina, he said players believe local bias and rooting interests are influencing how officials call a game.
“These guys are from places, they have favorite teams,” Griffin said. “How do you assess that with a referee who has a flag in his pocket and can make calls that can change the outcome of a game based off of where he’s from or who his favorite team was or who he rooted for when he was a kid?”
ESPN’s Robert Griffin III says players are wondering if local bias is influencing the poor officiating in the NFL this season: pic.twitter.com/CRnlTbo5O4
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“Because I don’t know many referees that just get into refereeing because they want to referee,” Griffin continued. “They might get into refereeing because they followed the game as a child. And that’s the conversation that players are having, especially in the locker room. Like, ‘This guy’s from Green Bay! And he threw that flag!’ Or he’s from Green Bay and he didn’t throw that flag because he didn’t want to seem like he was guilty of doing something.”
At face value, this is an outlandish theory. Griffin explained that he’s not biased toward Baylor when broadcasting games involving his alma mater. He’s able to put his personal preferences aside for professional reasons. So why wouldn’t officials be able to do the same, regardless if they live in a team’s city or grew up rooting for a particular club?
However, if players are increasingly frustrated with what they perceive as bad calls, especially penalties that are costing them money, they’re going to rationalize reasons for it and possibly create conspiracy theories.
