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Aaron Rodgers may or may not be with the Green Bay Packers next season, but that has certainly not diminished his appetite for weighing in on the most polarizing issues within the NFL. One aspect of the league that has been front and center in recent weeks has been the standard of refereeing in the league. During the AFC Championship game, several calls were perceived to favor the Kansas City Chiefs over the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, the quarterback has jumped in with his observations.
Appearing on the Pat McAfee show, he said,
"We had a lot of refs in the last half decade, who were elite level officials retire from the game. Really in the last decade too. There's been so many great ones. A lot of them what do they do? They go on TV. Why? Because the money is what it is."
He identified the problem of top referees not getting the compensation that a demanding job like that requires. According to Aaron Rodgers, that is causing an exodus of referees to television. He provided some examples to back up his assertions. He said,
"We have Gene Steratore on the CBS crew, who's a fantastic referee. I thought he was the best or one of the best in the game his entire time he was in it you have John Barry you have seen on air. John is fantastic referee. He's on TV now. Terry McAulay, fantastic referee."
Mike Pereira agrees with Aaron Rodgers' theory but does not see it applying to himself
Another person that Aaron Rodgers name-checked during his appearance was Mike Pereira, who is now on TV.
"The issue I think is not them retired as much as the league not paying one of those top guys to like Mike Pereira or Dean Blandino to be head of the officials... You need to be one of those top guys to be that that head of the officials for the NFL and the NFL just needs to pay that guy a salary which can take them away from TV and help to I think standardized calls across the league."
Pereira agreed with the root cause that Aaron Rodgers identified but disagreed that it applied to him. The FOX rules analyst said,
“I liked his logic, but it didn’t apply to me because I was already off the field and in the league office."
When top players, coaches and officials agree, commissioner Roger Goodell should look at implementing a suitable solution as soon as possible.
No fan wants a repeat of refereeing controversies to mar the game.
