The NFL Referees Association is fighting back against what it says are allegations of bias in officiating.
The NFLRA sent out a statement about "false reports, complaints of officiating bias." The first line refers to "media reports alleging bias in officiating."
What they could be referring to is a petition on change.org, started by a Philadelphia Eagles fan following last week's game against the Carolina Panthers. Will Philbrick is trying to get 75,000 signatures on the petition to keep referee Pete Morelli from officiating another game involving the Eagles, and he's closing in on that number.
“NFL Referee Pete Morelli has a clear and statistically obvious bias against the Philadelphia Eagles,” Philbrick wrote on the page. “Over the last four games that he has officiated that the Eagles were playing in, the Eagles were flagged a total of 40 times for 396 yards, while the Eagles opponent in those games were flagged a mere 8 times for 74 yards. This is unacceptable and puts the Philadelphia Eagles at a disadvantage. Preventing Morelli from refereeing Eagles games will result in a more trustworthy and honest NFL. This will benefit the entire league and keep all claims of conspiracy to a normal level.”
The NFLRA points out in the statement that officiating crews are made up of different officials each season and that the "attempts to sensationalize statistics and create click-bait headlines lack important context."
“Claims like these demonstrate a fundamental lack of knowledge about NFL officiating,” NFLRA Executive Director Scott Green said in the statement. “NFL officials are graded on every call made in every game. Missing a single one can hurt his or her ranking and may be the difference between working in the postseason or not.”
Philadelphia won the game that seemed to push Philbrick to start the petition, 28-23 against the Carolina Panthers last Thursday. But the Eagles were penalized 10 times for 126 yards and the Panthers once for 1 yard.
“The passion of NFL fans and teams are a big part of what makes the game so great,” Green said. “However, it’s no excuse for the irresponsible and baseless claims we’ve seen lately. NFL officials are committed to upholding the integrity of the game and do so every week.”
