How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

Has there ever been one?
I always thought that a ref could give a lot of remarkable insight into game.
Imagine Jerry Markbreit or someone like that in the booth giving color commentary.
I wonder if the NFL frowns on that sort of thing.

[QUOTE=Alvin Walton;845981]Has there ever been one?
I always thought that a ref could give a lot of remarkable insight into game.
Imagine Jerry Markbreit or someone like that in the booth giving color commentary.
I wonder if the NFL frowns on that sort of thing.[/QUOTE]

Well FOX does have Mike Perirea(sp?) as an on call personality. He offers some good insights but not really anything super fascinating.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=CRedskinsRule;845984]Well FOX does have Mike Perirea(sp?) as an on call personality. He offers some good insights but not really anything super fascinating.[/quote]

I was going to mention Mike Periera (sp?) too. I like him a lot more when he explains calls in the booth, I used to rag on him constantly for toe'ing the company line when he was VP of Officiating. When he was in the NFL offices he used to always backup his refs no matter how obviously bad a call looked, and I assume it's probably because he wanted to show a united front even if he was chastising refs behind closed doors. I just feel like he's a lot more open now that he's in the booth, for instance you never would've heard him trashing Vick when he was in the league office.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=CRedskinsRule;845984]Well FOX does have Mike Perirea(sp?) as an on call personality. He offers some good insights but not really anything super fascinating.[/quote]

Uh, Mike Periea. Or at least thats what I used to say. When he worked for NFLN he always seemed to take the refs side, now that he works for Fox I see him more willing to disagree with the calls.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

Does it have anything to do possibly some kind of privacy/secrecy act, or something along the lines of like a players association for referees?

What I mean is, a guy like Ed Hoculi becomes an announcer, and during a game he says something like "I tell you what joe when I was reffing, i really didn't like Michael Vick so i always kind of turned my head when they would hit him", etc...

Not making a joke here, i always assumed they protect everything the refs do behind closed doors so they would never let an ex-ref become a commentator because of stuff like I mentioned.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=mooby;845987]I was going to mention Mike Periera (sp?) too. I like him a lot more when he explains calls in the booth, I used to rag on him constantly for toe'ing the company line when he was VP of Officiating. When he was in the NFL offices he used to always backup his refs no matter how obviously bad a call looked, and I assume it's probably because he wanted to show a united front even if he was chastising refs behind closed doors. I just feel like he's a lot more open now that he's in the booth, for instance you never would've heard him trashing Vick when he was in the league office.[/quote]

Joining an organization seems to have a behavioral impact on the joiner, i.e Smoot defending ESPN. (:D)

:) I defend what deserves to be defended. When not deserved...I keep quiet. Referees wouldn't be all that great as color commentators because they are not involved with the team during the week when it comes to practice, and strategy etc. They would have limited knowledge to offer

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

When do they ever get it right, anyway? DUH! :)

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

I would think the refs hear and see a lot of things that other people in the game don't. There's always a lot of pleading whining to the refs, not to mention coaches going ballistic. You never get to here about that stuff.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

How come you never see baby squirrels?

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

lol better question IMO

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

Would there be anyone more boring for the job than a ref?

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;846004]:) I defend what deserves to be defended. When not deserved...I keep quiet. Referees wouldn't be all that great as color commentators because they are not involved with the team during the week when it comes to practice, and strategy etc. They would have limited knowledge to offer[/quote]

Exactly. When they have those live in-game consultations with Mike Pereira, he doesn't exactly ooze "broadcast journalist."

Speaking of broadcast journalists, I enjoyed seeing Czarniak on SC the other day. She did a good job, even though it seemed like Coachman was giving her a bit of on-air hazing.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=Mattyk;846185]Would there be anyone more boring for the job than a ref?[/quote]

[IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WKBayfGaNtU/Sw1ZhkdyrXI/AAAAAAAACo0/4pWHZpvypRo/s400/BenStein.jpg[/IMG]

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=Alvin Walton;846193][IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WKBayfGaNtU/Sw1ZhkdyrXI/AAAAAAAACo0/4pWHZpvypRo/s400/BenStein.jpg[/IMG][/quote]

When this thread first popped up my first thought of a ref in the booth was of someone extremely boring talking in Ben Stein's annoying monotonous tone of voice. Could you imagine a ref with that kind of voice calling an amazing play like Dwayne Bowe's touchdown catch last week? Imagine reading the below in Ben Stein's voice. That's my perception of what having a ref in the booth would be like.

"And it's tipped. Dwayne Bowe is still keeping the ball alive. And he caught it. It's a touchdown. Kansas City. As per section 8, paragraph 2, line 4 of the rule book states,'It is established as a catch when a receiver maintains two feet in bounds with secure possession of the ball.' What a play."

I hope the NFL never puts a ref in the booth.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

Also, remember most (if not all) refs have other professions on going, and I don't think they have the short nfl career span that most players, or even coaches, that go onto broadcasting do. Look at [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Triplette"]Jeff Triplette's Wiki[/URL] I don't see him being in any quick hurry to go in the booth:

[QUOTE]Triplette is a retired Army Reserve colonel. He was awarded the Bronze Star for actions in the Persian Gulf War while serving in the North Carolina Army National Guard.

In January 2007, Triplette was named President and Chief Operating Officer of FNC, Inc., the provider of collateral management technology to the nation's largest mortgage lenders. Before joining FNC, he was Vice President for Risk Management at Duke Energy, a large energy company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.[/QUOTE]

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=CRedskinsRule;846201]Also, remember most (if not all) refs have other professions on going, and I don't think they have the short nfl career span that most players, or even coaches, that go onto broadcasting do. Look at [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Triplette"]Jeff Triplette's Wiki[/URL] I don't see him being in any quick hurry to go in the booth:[/quote]

Jeff Tripplette - Not your stereotypical "stuffed suit" corporate executive.

And Ed Hochuli is an attorney. No wonder why his explanations are so detailed.(which why I like him. lol)

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

I guess it has been done before...in the NHL

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Chadwick]Bill Chadwick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/url]

Still, I don't think we're aching for a former ref to sit next to Brad Nessler in the broadcast booth

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

AW, this is an excellent question. I agree that 90% of the refs would be mind-numbingly boring. But I bet there are a few who would be fantastic -- especially the old-school guys from Louisiana or Texas. They do love the game and do understand it as well as, say, Dennis Miller.

So this leads me to conclude that there is a code of silence enforced by the NFL. Let's check the CFL and see if any of them are working up there.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=HTTR;846213]AW, this is an excellent question. I agree that 90% of the refs would be mind-numbingly boring. But I bet there are a few who would be fantastic -- especially the old-school guys from Louisiana or Texas. They do love the game and do understand it as well as, say, Dennis Miller.

So this leads me to conclude that there is a code of silence enforced by the NFL. Let's check the CFL and see if any of them are working up there.[/quote]

They have to be paid, and they're probably paid Thom Brennamen money, not Aikman and Buck money. These guys have pretty well-paying jobs already, and don't necessarily desire the travel required for being an announcer.

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;846004]:) I defend what deserves to be defended. When not deserved...I keep quiet. Referees wouldn't be all that great as color commentators because they are not involved with the team during the week when it comes to practice, and strategy etc. They would have limited knowledge to offer[/quote]

Absolutely correct...!

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

[quote=Mattyk;846185]Would there be anyone more boring for the job than a ref?[/quote]

A few folks come to mind:

[INDENT]Peewee Herman
Sinead O'Connor
Roseanne Barr
Dennis Miller
Joe Theisman
Fred "The Hammer" Williamson
Al Gore[/INDENT]Given the choice between a former ref and anyone on that list, give me the former ref...

Re: How come there has never been a retired referee as an announcer?
 

Have you ever seen how old the reffs are? They go straight from the field to 6 feet under. Hell I'm surprised none have died right there on the field.