Unless I'm mistaken, there are 7 on field officials for each game. Anyone know if that's correct?
And if so, does anyone know if/when that number came to be? Were there 4 or 5 originally and it has increased over the history of the league, or has the number remained to the same from the beginning.(???) I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment.
IMO, the problem is not as much the referees themselves (though certainly at least in part) as it is the number of rules that have been created and they have been charged with enforcing. I can't imagine them being able to observe all the flagrant stuff they're asked to enforce these days, let alone the exceptions and/or nuances incorporated into many rules. I suspect they'd have to have the 'vision' of an HoF running back to observe everything they're charged with enforcing to be as effective as fans want them to be.
Plus......, this is football folks. We're not engaging in trying to bring peace to the Middle East. Some folks need to hear the 'R-e-l-a-x' admonition Aaron Rodgers gave Green Bay fans recently. Good grief.