Unique NFL quirk sees part-time officials handle upcoming Super Bowl

[p]It is a little-known quirk of the NFL that the multi-billion-dollar-grossing sports behemoth employs part-time officials to oversee even its biggest games.[/p][p]This Sunday's NFL flagship spectacle will be officiated by Shawn Smith, who from Monday to Friday works as a manager at the Detroit branch of a medical insurance firm.[/p][p]"[b]They've always been part time[/b]," explained Ben Austro, founder of Football Zebras, a website that tracks NFL officials and their decisions.[/p][p]"[b]You'll see lawyers, teachers, educator... entrepreneurs who have the ability to take a little bit of time off work[/b]."[/p][p]The league has even employed pilots, air traffic controllers, and a rocket scientist.[/p][p]But, Austro says, NFL officials are the elite of the elite - painstakingly scouted from college football by a vast network of talent-spotters, trained and vetted, and expected to spend 40-50 hours a week preparing for their football duties during the season.[/p][p][b]"It's not, 'oh, we show up in the city the night before, have a great steak dinner and then just roll out onto the field for three hours,[/b]'" he said.[/p][h2]'Tough job'[/h2][p]Inevitably, NFL officials come in for criticism at times - and their part-time status can be an easy line of attack.[/p][p]"[b]The refs are the worst... These guys are lawyers. They want to be on TV too,[/b]" said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nacua-puka/UFBmFvle/"]Puka Nacua[/a], star receiver of the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-rams/z7hZioyR/"]Los Angeles Rams[/a], in December.[/p][p]"[b]You don't think he's texting his friends in the group chat like, 'Yo, you just saw me on Sunday Night Football?'[/b]"[/p][p]Nacua's diatribe, made on an internet livestream, earned him a $25,000 fine.[/p][p]Other players have called for referees' contracts to be upgraded with a more positive tone.[/p][p]"[b]I do think that it would probably help to have all of them full-time,[/b]" said quarterback [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rodgers-aaron/dvZCmchC/"]Aaron Rodgers[/a], in 2023.[/p][p]"[b]They've got a tough job to do, to make calls in real time, and they're as scrutinized as the quarterbacks and kickers are,[/b]" he told the Pat McAfee Show.[/p][embed guid="b3281af6-2f35-481b-9c14-284022ca12e1" url="https://x.com/MySportsUpdate/status/2013703640788111800?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Yet not everyone believes that change is needed.[/p][p]The referees' union does not disclose financial terms of contract negotiations, but top NFL officials are believed to earn over $200,000 per year.[/p][p]Austro believes that requiring referees to work full-time could shrink the pool of elite officials.[/p][p]Knowing that a refereeing career can end swiftly with injury or demotion, many would not wish to give up their more reliable day jobs, he said.[/p][p]As the NFL's off-season is vastly longer than its 18-week regular season, officials benefit from a "dark period" to recharge from January until May, in which they cannot be contacted by the league.[/p][h2]'Control'[/h2][p]Once the regular season ends, officials who have excelled are rewarded with coveted games in the playoffs.[/p][p]The process is merit-based but secretive, with NFL's head of officiating Ramon George believed to have the final say on who gets the Super Bowl.[/p][p]This year's choice, Smith, has spent eight years as referee - the top-ranking position of the on-field officials - and was previously in the more junior role of umpire.[/p][p]"[b]He's got good control of the game. It instills confidence,[/b]" said Austro.[/p][p]Smith himself declined an interview request, telling AFP that NFL officials are "[b]not authorized to do interviews during the season[/b]."[/p][p]But he will doubtless hope to continue a post-season in which refereeing decisions have largely been uncontroversial - with one major exception.[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/buffalo-bills/t2lcn4tk/"]Buffalo Bills[/a] have continued to complain that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/allen-josh/MPG79J5g/"]Josh Allen[/a]'s overtime pass against the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/denver-broncos/l22ZmPbl/"]Denver Broncos[/a] should not have been declared an interception, a decision that led to their elimination from the playoffs.[/p][p]"[b]It was absolutely an interception... it seemed pretty obvious to us,[/b]" said Austro.[/p][p]"[b]The number of times that they get these things correct is just astonishing to me[/b]."[/p]