NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Drops Shocking Take On The League’s Officiating Problem
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the current state of officiating on Monday.
Once again, the NFL referees often stole the spotlight with terrible calls and non-calls. There were even instances of the officials simply forgetting basic rules, such as the referees allowing the Carolina Panthers to kick the ball from their own 40-yard line instead of the standard 35-yard line in the Wild Card Round against the Los Angeles Rams.
There was also the coin toss fiasco in the Panthers‘ Week 11 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons. The referee inexplicably allowed Bryce Young to “defer” and decide which way he wanted to kick.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Roger Goodell praised the NFL officials’ performance. However, he admitted that their job is difficult, and the league should use technology to help the refs (via Myles Simmons of Pro Footballk Talk):
“I’m so amazed at how good our officials are. We spend time all week looking at various angles and still debating it a week later. These guys have to make a split-second decision, and the men and women on our field are incredible. I think they’ve proven over and over again they’re really wonderful at what they do.
On the other hand, it’s a difficult sport to officiate. It’s fast. It’s quick. And we have to be able to use technology, in my view, to try to prevent the obvious errors. Now, they’re not all obvious. I think, depending on which team you’re for, they’re obvious in your eyes potentially. But at the end of the day, we see that if there’s an obvious error, we need to be able to fix it. And I think technology can help that…
There has to be a lot of discussion about how that happens and when. But I think all those things are things that the competition committee will spend some time on.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he is “so amazed” by how good NFL officials are.
He acknowledged it’s a difficult job, said the league wants to use more technology, and added: “If there’s an obvious error, we need to be able to fix it.”
Further discussions coming in the… pic.twitter.com/q19CH2R3YZ
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 2, 2026
The NFL made several changes to help the officials ahead of the 2025 season. They implemented Sony’s Hawk-Eye system to measure first downs. There was also an expansion of replay assist for penalties like facemask, tripping, intentional grounding and roughing the passer.
Roger Goodell Hit On All Points
Goodell is obviously not going to publicly criticize the officials the way fans would like him to. He handled this topic as well as he could, applauding the refs while acknowledging there’s room for improvement.
NFL referees aren’t perfectly programmed robots. They aren’t going to get every call right. But as Goodell noted, they have the technology to help the officials. Quite frankly, there’s no reason why the NFL shouldn’t make every single call or non-call reviewable.
The league has the money and resources to invest in proper technology to help the officials. An expanded replay system would be ideal, as would the idea of a sky judge that was used by the XFL before its merger with the USFL.
