Penalties are up in the NFL this year, but Commissioner Roger Goodell says that isn’t a reflection on the officials.
Asked about the officiating and the penalty increase, Goodell said the officials are evaluated on whether they make the right calls, not the number of flags they throw.
“Number of fouls can’t be an evaluation of officiating, necessarily,” Goodell said. “Because we don’t commit the fouls, right? The officials are there to call the fouls, when they exist. So I think when you evaluate officiating, you don’t just look at total number of fouls. I think that’s an inappropriate way to approach it.”
Goodell said he believes officiating has improved and the league is continuing to get more calls right.
“We look more deeply at, are they properly called? And I see that every week, sometimes multiple times a week, where we go through the plays that were called and the things we want to change and the approaches we want to make,” Goodell said. “I think the changes made to our officiating, not just with collective bargaining, but in the offseason with personnel, the processes we have on replay, including replay assist, have all been beneficial and have been very positive things. But we continue that effort. We’re always going to continue that effort.”
After Week 4, the NFL suspended line judge Jeff Seeman for two games and referee Adrian Hill for one game for their conduct toward players. Goodell said that was part of the league’s insistence on good sportsmanship from everyone.
“Absolutely, we do want accountability for our officials,” Goodell said. “But we also want respect between the participants. Not just player to player, but officials play an important role out there, and they need to be held to the highest standards.”
