Mike Pereira says NFL views officiating as 'necessary evil'

Mike Pereira was the NFL's vice president of officiating for nine seasons before he left the post in 2010. It sounds like the job was often a thankless one.

"I think the league office, internally, really looks at officiating as a necessary evil. Because everything an official does is negative -- throws a flag, it's a negative connotation -- and nobody calls the league office to say, 'Hey, your officials are doing a great job.' They call to complain," Pereira, who now analyzes the refs for Fox, said Wednesday on Showtime's Inside the NFL.

Which is why he believes the scrutiny and criticism the league weathered while employing replacement officials — Pereira said many of them lacked the "intestinal fortitude" to adapt to the pro game — for the first three weeks of the season has given the NFL greater appreciation and respect for its regular zebras.

"You get a lot of negative feeling from league office personnel themselves," Pereira continued. "This I think woke up the league office to say, 'You know what, this job's much harder than people realize.' "

Very true.

Which doesn't mean the positive afterglow surrounding the regular officials will last forever ... or even very long given one of them will inevitably make a glaring mistake.