Two NFL teams propose adding another referee as a ‘sky judge’

Over the last few years, the officiating in the NFL has garnered greater scrutiny by the league and its teams.

That has led to more criticism along the way on some of the penalties called throughout the year. According to Kevin Seifert of ESPN, two teams that have proposed the addition of another referee for each crew that will be used in a booth.

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Two NFL teams have proposed the addition of a booth umpire to each officiating crew for the 2020 season, one of seven team-based rule changes that league owners will consider this offseason.

None of the proposals have been vetted or endorsed yet by the competition committee, which will meet later this month to discuss them and develop its own list of potential new rules. But the idea of a booth umpire, sometimes referred to as a “sky judge,” has circulated in the NFL for years.

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That addition of another official could come into play with teams looking to get the correct call on the field. In many instances, there have been notable missed calls that have profoundly impacted the outcome of games.

These proposals have yet to be looked into by the competition committee. The committee will meet later this month to discuss them and make a list of potential new rules. There was previously discussion surrounding this last year. However, it didn’t reach a serious push to incorporate it into the game.

The XFL has used this method in their first season back into existence. It will be interesting to see if it can gather steam this time around.