NFL Referees: Replacement Official Tells Eagles RB LeSean McCoy 'I Need You For My Fantasy'
As each week of NFL games passes, criticism of replacement referees increases, and Week 2 was just as much, if not more of, a testament to that as Week 1.
A handful of specific games drew more criticism than others, but none may have generated more than the Ravens-Eagles game. Among the miscues were officials taking five minutes to spot the ball after an Eagles interception and a personal foul on Ravens running back Ray Rice and signaling the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter twice. The referees even announced that the next snap following a reversed call of a Michael Vick fumble at the 1-yard line was fourth-and-goal instead of third-and-goal.
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However, none of those miscues may have been as bizarre as one referee encouraging Eagles running back LeSean McCoy to do well for his fantasy football team.
McCoy spoke to 94 WIP's Anthony Gargano and Ike Reese on Monday and was asked about the job the refs are doing. Referencing the fantasy football conversation, McCoy called them "fans."
"I'll be honest, they're like fans," he said. "One of the refs was talking about his fantasy team, like 'McCoy, come on, I need you for my fantasy,' ahhh, what?!"
McCoy laughed jokingly, but there was most likely still a serious undertone in what he said, especially after he also spoke of Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis puffing up his chest to intimidate one referee.
"During the game, they made like a bad call or something, the ref, and I see Ray Lewis like pump his chest up, trying to scare him," McCoy said. "Don't you know [the ref] started stuttering? I'm like 'what's this?!'"
The combination of objective referees talking with players about fantasy football and being intimidated by players should not sit well with commissioner Roger Goodell. Both instances could affect the outcome of a game and destroy the credibility of the most successful American sports league.
Who knows what Week 3 will have in store? Regardless, it seems like most everyone who has watched the past two would agree it's time for the veteran referees to take back control of what has happened and restore order to the chaos.
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