Officiating professional sports has always been a controversial subject because a fair outcome of the game depends on them doing a good job and enforcing the rules. After all, the point of theofficials being there is to make sure that the players themselves decide the outcomes.
Why then, are there always questions about rule interpretations, strike zones, fouls, penalties, and the like? It's simply because it is not that easy to officiate the sports we love. The rules are intricate, and many times the same rule is interpreted differently from game to game, and official to official.
Which sport is the most difficult to officiate? It has to be professional football. To understand why you have to understand all the moving parts that go into keeping control of a game. First of all, you need a team of seven individuals to work the game, and they each have different functions:
Referee
He gives the signal for all fouls and makes all the penalty calls. He is responsible for all the rule interpretations that occur in the game, and keeps track of what happens to the quarterback on pass plays, as well as the legality of the snap. He is normally about 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage and checks for illegal motion, and on plays involving kickers, he determines whether illegal contact has been made. Think that is a lot? There is more.
Umpire
He watches the offensive and defensive lines for false starts, illegal contact, and also ensures that lineman don’t move down the field early on pass plays and that receivers are not illegally held up on screen plays. The Umpire also assists on legal and illegal pass receptions.
Head Linesman
He works with the Referee to make sure down is correct, and that the chain crew effectively does their duties. The Head Linesman also watches for illegal contact with receivers on his side of the field after the five yard limit, and has full responsibility for ruling on out of bounds plays on his side. He has to rule on forward progress, pass interference, and any action involving any receiver on his side, in addition to watching for possible scrimmage line infractions. Not exactly a walk in the park with the amount of pass happy teams in the NFL.
Line Judge
He straddles the line of scrimmage opposite the Lineman, and keeps the time on the field as a back-up. Along with the Linesman he is responsible for offsides, encroachment, and other infractions on the scrimmage line prior to the snap. He also has to make sure the passer is not beyond the line of scrimmage on pass plays, and has to rule whether a pass is a lateral or forward pass. On punts, the Line Judge has to make sure the end men go down-field until the kick has been made.
Field Judge
Operates on same side of field as Line Judge, 20 yards deep. Keys on wide receiver on his side. Concentrates on path of end or back, observing legality of his potential block(s) or of actions taken against him. Will call holding or illegal use of hands by end or back or on defensive infractions committed by player guarding him. Has primary responsibility to make decisions involving the sideline on his side of field, such as inbounds/out of bounds calls. The Field judge also rules on catches, recoveries, and illegal touching of the ball.
Side Judge
He operates on the same side of the field as the Linesman 20 yards deep, and keys on the receiver on his side. He will rule on blocking irregularities by the receiver and actions taken against him such as illegal use of hands, and holding, and pass interference. The Side Judge also assists in covering actions by a runner with the football and blocks by teammates. He has direct responsibility for out of bounds plays on his side.
Back Judge
He is positioned 25 yards downfield and for the most part keys on the tight end and follows his path. The Back Judge will watch for holding and other illegal acts by the tight end, as well as infractions against them in the passing game. In addition he will rule on fair catch infractions, clipping on kick returns, and together with the Field Judge, whether or not field goals and extra points are good. The Back Judge will also time the interval between plays, and keep track of the time between the two periods of each half.
Not only does each official have to remember their responsibilities, but they all have to work together as a team. It has to be a coordinated effort, even though some of their responsibilities overlap.
The game itself has gotten faster, which necessitated the need for instant replay, but there is no doubt that it is the most difficult. There are almost too many things happening on every play.
You can have illegal motion, an illegal forward pass, pass interference, a personal foul, a hold, and a touchdown on the same play. If you compare the other major sports, there are not as many moving parts to keep track of.
Take baseball, for instance. The home-plate umpire for most of the game is focused on calling balls and strikes. Bang-bang plays at the plate and fly balls headed toward the foul pole don’t occur very often, so most of the time the home-plate umpire is dealing with the ball and strikes, and the other umpires are standing around. You can make a case for the first base umpire being busy because of the plays at first, but most games move along without any major intervention from the umpires.
With professional football, you know holding goes on every play, but the rules say if the lineman’s hands are inside, then they are fine. The interpretation of a lineman’s hands being inside could vary from crew to crew.
Every play in the NFL has to be scrutinized by the whole crew, whether there are penalties or not. Things happen underneath piles that have to be sorted out, in addition to the spot of the ball being so important.
For the NBA, it is easier to keep track of 10 players on a basketball court than it is to keep track of 22 players on a football field. I am not saying the NBA and NHL are easy, just easier than the NFL. As far as having the most influence over a game, that has to be the home plate umpire.
If they give a pitcher like Tom Glavine,and Greg Maddux the outside part of the plate (really off the plate), then that will make the difference between them being effective and being almost unhittable, or being ineffective and giving up five-plus runs.
Most of the game of baseball is about the pitchers and the batters, which involves the umpire calling the balls and strikes. If they are calling a bad game with a wide strike zone, hitters will swing at pitches they normally wouldn’t swing at. If they are calling a tight strike zone, the hitters have the advantage.
However you slice it, the umpire behind the plate has a lot of influence over the game, but as far as difficulty goes, there is no doubt that NFL football is the most difficult. Sometimes they get it wrong, most of the time they get it right, but it is not easy (see the Motor City Miracle, Troy Polamalu interception in Colts vs. Steelers playoff game, Patriots vs. Raiders ”Tuck Rule” playoff game).
