NFL officials ratify eight-year deal

• Officials vote by a wide margin to approve a new contract with the NFL
• Only five officials voted against the proposed deal
• Regular officials will be on the field for the full schedule of Sunday games

IRVING, Texas -- NFL officials voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new eight-year agreement that will put the officials – the real ones – back to work across the country for Sunday's games.

After a 30-minute meeting Saturday morning, Scott Green, the president of the NFL Referees Association, emerged from a Dallas-area hotel ballroom to announce that 112 of 117 ballots cast were in favor of the agreement, with five opposed. The new contract needed to be ratified by 51% of the union.

"We were very happy, there were no major issues to come up," said Green, whose voice cracked with emotion at times while he discussed the vote with reporters. "After a 115-day lockout, and having to watch football on TV, we are very enthusiastic about getting back to work."

Their return to the field is welcomed news for NFL fans, coaches and players, who were unified in their frustration over the three-week performance of replacement refs who marred the game with inconsistent and egregious calls. The public clamoring to end the lockout became deafening after Monday night's final play in which the Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers on an apparent blown call.

Green said he thought the controversial "Fail Mary" pass definitely had some impact in accelerating the negotiating process before a deal was reached with the league late Wednesday night. New York Giants co-owner John Mara told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday that he thought a deal would have happened last week regardless of the Packers-Seahawks outcome but acknowledged the events might have accelerated the process.

The week also included New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick being fined $50,000 for making contact with a replacement official Sunday night. Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was fined
$25,000 for his actions at the end of a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Shanahan received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and then reportedly chased officials into the tunnel after the game and berated them.

By Thursday, one officiating crew returned to work the Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns game and was greeted with a standing ovation when the officials walked onto the field. How long will this honeymoon period
last for the returning officials?



"There will be people booing and screaming," Green said. "What we are most proudest of is the lesson that we all learned – if you are going to be in a professional league, you have professional players, you have
top-notch coaches, you need professional officials as well."



Green said the NFLRA board initially voted unanimously in favor of the agreement, which was "a signal to the guys that this was a deal we
were very satisfied with." Many officials planned to fly directly from Dallas
after Saturday's meetings to their assigned cities for games Sunday and Monday.



Officials had trickled into the hotel lobby here throughout Friday, greeting one another with high-fives or hugs, as if gathering for a long-overdue high school reunion. It was a festive scene, with no tension evident before they met Friday night to review the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement. Some officials said privately that the vote was a mere formality.



Though they met Friday night for more than 90 minutes, Tim Millis, the executive director of the NFLRA, told USA TODAY Sports that the tenor was "very good" and that most of the meeting entailed a question-and-answer session on non-economic matters.



One of the issues of most intrigue, Millis said, is the league's plan to hire a number of full-time officials in 2013. The NFL also will have the option to put together a bench squad of officials who could replace those who are considered under-performing officials.



"We don't know a lot about that," Millis said. "Our best description of it is that it will be like NFL Europe."



One of the key elements in the CBA is the pension plan. Before negotiations resumed this week, the league wanted to keep the pension plan for officials for two years before moving to a 401(k) plan. When the agreement was reached Wednesday, the pension plan was to be in place for five years.


Millis said one of the biggest concessions was the one officials made on the pension, "where we have made some big steps toward down the road a delayed freeze where we give up a defined benefit at some point in time versus a defined contribution. The biggest advantage in that is, with a defined benefit, the league is responsible for the volatile market, whereas with the defined contribution you are."



Millis said officials had studied and remained in shape during the lockout. He said several officials had been conducting classes, sending out tests and films to analyze. Conference calls were held involving a "very large number of officials," Millis said.



The officials didn't like being the focus of the news. Their job is best performed, Green said, when no one notices their presence.



"Last Super Bowl we worked," Green said, "we got in the locker room and I said, 'You know, the best thing about this game? No one will
remember who refereed this game.' That is the way we like to work."