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WPEC-TV CBS12 News :: Sports - NFL reaches tentative agreement with refs

NFL reaches tentative agreement with refs

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL and the referees' union reached a tentative contract agreement at midnight Thursday, ending an impasse that began in June when the league locked out the officials and used replacements instead.

"Our officials will be back on the field starting tomorrow night" for the Cleveland-Baltimore game, Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "We appreciate the commitment of the NFLRA in working through the issues to reach this important agreement."

With Goodell at the table, the sides concluded two days of talks with the announcement of a tentative 8-year deal, which must be ratified by 51 percent of the union's 121 members. They plan to vote Friday.

"Our Board of Directors has unanimously approved taking this proposed CBA to the membership for a ratification vote," said Scott Green, president of the NFLRA. "We are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's games."

The replacements worked the first three weeks of games, triggering a wave of frustration that threatened to disrupt the rest of the season. After a missed call cost the Green Bay Packers a win on a chaotic final play at Seattle on Monday night, the two sides really got serious.

The union was seeking improved salaries, retirement benefits and other logistical issues for the part-time officials. The NFL has proposed a pension freeze and a higher 401(k) match, and it wants to hire 21 more officials to improve the quality of officiating. The union has fought that, fearing it could lead to a loss of jobs for some of the current officials, as well as a reduction in overall compensation.

The NFL claimed its offers have included annual pay increases that could earn an experienced official more than $200,000 annually by 2018. The NFLRA has disputed the value of the proposal, insisting it means an overall reduction in compensation.

Replacement refs aren't new to the NFL. They worked the first week of games in 2001 before a deal was reached. But those officials came from the highest level of college football; the current replacements do not. Their ability to call fast-moving NFL games drew mounting criticism through Week 3, climaxing last weekend, when ESPN analyst Jon Gruden called their work "tragic and comical."

Those comments came during "Monday Night Football," with Seattle beating Green Bay 14-12 on a desperation pass into the end zone on the final play. Packers safety M.D. Jennings had both hands on the ball in the end zone, and when he fell to the ground in a scrum, both Jennings and Seahawks receiver Golden Tate had their arms on the ball.

The closest official to the play, at the back of the end zone, signaled for the clock to stop, while another official at the sideline ran in and then signaled touchdown.

The NFL said in a statement Tuesday that the touchdown pass should not have been overturned — but acknowledged Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference before the catch. The league also said there was no indisputable evidence to reverse the call made on the field.

That drew even louder howls of outrage. Some coaches, including Miami's Joe Philbin and Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis, tried to restore some calm by instructing players not to speak publicly on the issue.

Fines against two coaches for incidents involving the replacements were handed out Wednesday.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was docked $50,000 for trying to grab an official's arm Sunday to ask for an explanation of a call after his team lost at Baltimore. And Washington offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was tagged for $25,000 for what the league called "abuse of officials" in the Redskins' loss to Cincinnati on Sunday. Two other coaches, Denver's John Fox and assistant Jack Del Rio, were fined Monday for incidents involving the replacements the previous week.

"I accept the discipline and I apologize for the incident," Belichick said.

Players were in no mood for apologies from anyone.

"I'll probably get in trouble for this, but you have to have competent people," Carolina receiver Steve Smith said. "And if you're incompetent, get them out of there."

Added Rams quarterback Sam Bradford: "I just don't think it's fair to the fans, I don't think it's fair to us as players to go out there and have to deal with that week in and week out. I really hope that they're as close as they say they are."

They were. Finally.

___

AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds in Miami, Steve Reed in Charlotte, and R.B. Fallstrom in St. Louis contributed to this story.


NFL reaches tentative agreement with refs

Thursday, September 27 2012, 12:36 AM EDT

Sports News

Last Update on May 21, 2013 20:52 GMT

NFL-MEETINGS

BOSTON (AP) --The San Francisco 49ers are big winners of Super Bowl 50 -- two and a-half years before it will be played.

NFL owners chose the Niners' new stadium being built in Santa Clara as site of Super Bowl 50 to be held in February 2016. The Santa Clara stadium is due to open in 2014. Niners CEO Jed York said after getting the winning bid: "After losing a Super Bowl (to Baltimore), it feels really good to win a Super Bowl."

San Francisco beat out South Florida, which was stymied in its bid to stage an 11th Super Bowl when the Florida Legislature did not support financing to renovate Sun Life Stadium.

The 2017 Super Bowl will be held in Houston, which also beat out Miami for that game.

In games already awarded, next year's Super Bowl will be held at the Meadowlands and the 2015 game will be played in the Phoenix area.

In other NFL news:

----Owners have approved a $200 million loan for construction of a new $1 billion stadium in Atlanta.

---- The league and Microsoft announced a deal in which Xbox will provide fans new viewing innovations, including the ability to interact with live games, Skype video chat with other fans, and other enhancements.

-- Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will miss at least three weeks of offseason workouts after a procedure to remove a cyst from his back. The Cowboys say Romo will be ready for training camp in July.

-- The Seattle Seahawks have waived backup quarterback Josh Portis a day after news surfaced of his arrest for driving under the influence earlier this month.

NBA-THUNDER RELIEF

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma City Thunder are giving $1 million for tornado relief, matching a $1 million pledge by star player Kevin Durant. The Thunder say they're giving $1 million to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and other disaster relief organizations helping after Monday's deadly tornado in suburban Oklahoma City.

Red Cross' regional CEO Janienne Bella says the organization is thankful for Durant's "generosity."

On Monday, Durant sent a message to his 4.1 million Twitter followers with Red Cross donation information.

NBA PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

SAN ANTONIO (AP)-- The San Antonio Spurs hope to match their offensive fireworks they displayed in the series opener when they take on Memphis in Game 2 of that NBA Western Conference final.

The Spurs torched the Grizzlies by hitting 14 3-pointers while shooting 53 percent in their series-opening 105-83 win on Sunday.

By now, the Grizzlies are kind of used to losing series openers. They dropped their last three Game 1's dating back to last year's playoffs.

NBA-LOTTERY

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Orlando Magic have the best odds of winning tonight's draft lottery, which is sort of like the Super Bowl for NBA also-rans. The Magic finished with an NBA-worst 20-62 record.

The Magic have a one-in-four chance to snag the top draft pick in the June 27th draft. That No. 1 pick is expected to be Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel. He comes with a bit of baggage, however. Noel is recovering from a torn ACL and is could miss the first two months of the next NBA season.

NBA-NEWS

TORONTO (AP) -- Bryan Colangelo (koh-LAHN'-jeh-loh) is still president of the Toronto Raptors, but he's no longer the club's general manager. Tim Leiweke (LY'-wih-kee), the new CEO of the Raptors parent company, stripped Colangelo of the GM title, which he has held since joining Toronto in 2006.

Colangelo is a two-time NBA executive of the year but has struggled lately in assembling talent. The Raptors were 10th in the Eastern Conference this year, finishing out of the playoffs for a franchise-worst fifth straight season.

MLB-SCHEDULE

UNDATED (AP) -- The Cleveland Indians aim for their sixth straight win tonight, but they'll be facing an unbeaten pitcher from their closest pursuer in the American League Central race.

The Indians start the night with a two-and-a-half-game lead over Detroit following their four-game sweep of Seattle, their first four-game sweep of the Mariners since 1981. The Indians had three walkoff hits among their four wins over the Mariners, including a Yan Gomes (yahn gohmz) three-run homer in the 10th inning of their 10-8 win yesterday.

Tonight, the Indians' opposition gets stiffer. The Tigers come to town and manager Jim Leyland (LEE'-lind) is sending out 5-0 Max Scherzer against the Tribe's Corey Kluber, who's 3-2.

The New York Yankees try to win the second of their three game series against Baltimore following their 6-4, 10-inning win over the Orioles last night. Baltimore has dropped six in a row to fall five games back of the Yankees. It's Phil Hughes for the Yanks against Miguel Gonzalez.

In Toronto, Ramon Ortiz is coming off his first victory since 2011 and he'll be on the mound for the Blue Jays against Tampa Bay's Alex Cobb. The Blue Jays beat the Rays 7-5 yesterday.

Oakland is at Texas, trying to close the five-and-a-half-game edge the Rangers have on the Athletics in the AL West. The A's draw a tough pitching assignment as Texas is sending out ace Yu Darvish, who is 7-1. A Darvish win would tie him with Tampa Bay's Matt Moore for most victories in the majors.

Boston is at Chicago to play the White Sox, who beat the Red Sox 6-4 last night. That ended Boston's five-game winning streak.

Kansas City tries to end its four-game losing streak when it visits Houston, which is tied with Miami for the worst record in baseball at 13-32.

In the interleague matchup, NL East-leading Atlanta tries for its fifth straight victory when it plays Minnesota, which has lost six in a row. The Braves won 5-1 last night to increase their division lead to three and a-half games over Washington. It's Mike Pelfrey for the Twins against Tim Hudson.

The Chicago Cubs send out Matt Garza, who is making his first start of the season since coming off the disabled list, when they play at Pittsburgh. Wandy Rodriguez takes a 4-2 mark to the mound for the Pirates.

The Cincinnati Reds start the day a game and a-half back of St. Louis in the NL Central race. The Reds start 3-2 Mike Leake against Jonathan Niese, who sports a 3-4 record for the New York Mets. Cincinnati beat the Mets 4-3 last night.

The Cardinals go with 5-3 Adam Wainwright against San Diego's Edinson Volquez after the Padres posted a 4-2 win over the Cards last night.

Philadelphia is at Miami tonight after the Marlins beat the Phillies 5-1 last night. Phils lefty Cole Hamels fell to 1-7.

The L.A. Dodgers send out 2-0 Zack Greinke (GREHN'-kee) in his second start since coming off the disabled list when they visit Milwaukee. The Brewers are last in the NL Central with a 17-26 mark.

Arizona is at Colorado as the Diamondbacks try to expand their one-game lead over San Francisco in the NL West.

The Giants try for their second straight win over Washington as they host the Nationals. It's Matt Cain for the Giants against 2-5 Stephen Strasburg. The Giants roughed up the Nats 8-0 last night.

MLB-NEWS

UNDATED (AP) --A couple of unusual injuries were reported after San Francisco's 8-0 whitewash of Washington last night. Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong broke his throwing hand fouling off a pitch. Vogelsong broke two bones along the right pinkie and dislocated a knuckle the area that the medical staff couldn't get popped back into place. He was scheduled for surgery this morning at Stanford.

---- And Nationals manager Davey Johnson disclosed reliever Ryan Mattheus (MATH'-yooz) broke his hand punching a locker following a sub-par performance Sunday in San Diego.

NHL PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

UNDATED (AP) -- The Boston Bruins and defending Stanley Cup champion L.A. Kings can take commanding leads in their respective NHL conference semifinal series tonight.

The Bruins are in New York with a 2-0 lead after two games in Beantown. The Rangers are in familiar position -- they dropped the first two games in their first-round series against Washington before winning that series in seven games.

In San Jose, the Kings can take a 3-1 series lead over the Sharks. These teams have been off since Friday when the Kings posted a 2-1 overtime win at the Shark Tank.

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