Aged Zebras

As complaints about NFL referees start to seep into the news and the NFL throws them under the bus, I want to try to get ahead of the story by addressing what to me has been an obvious problem for years--that referees are too slow; i.e., old.

The players' average age is somewhere between 25 and 29, and these men among boys are arguably the best athletes in the world playing its most violent sport. To me it is an undeniable fact that no other sport in the world combines the power, strength, speed and intended collisions that NFL athlete possess and produce. And yet, while watching games, I can't help but chuckle at the middle aged men moving in uncoordinated slow motion all over the field, trying to patrol it. If the hand is indeed quicker than the eye, then the aged NFL referees are missing alot.

These slow, aged referees should be replaced with athletes--fast enough to keep up with plays, tough enough to get in close to the play, deft enough to see the intricacies of plays and quick enough to make the right calls from the best angle of each play.

Oh but there's a catch: See 29 U.S.C.A. S623 Section (a) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Even the Refs can read it.

But Section 4(f)(1) of the very same statute allows the NFL a way out: "It shall not be unlawful for an employer. . .to take any action otherwise prohibited under subsections (a)-(e) of this section where age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business. . ."

In determining whether age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary for the normal conduct of business under this statute, the NFL would have to show that the essence of its operations requires the age qualification (maximum age). The cours look at such factors as public safety (irrelevant here), but could argue that the safety of the players and referees is at stake.

Watch the Championship games this weekend more closely. The refs cannot keep up with plays. If millions of dollars weren't at stake, it'd be comedic. Future referees should not be any less knowledgeable about the rules, but they should be able to more effectively keep up with the speed of the players.

For those with interest in labor law, I welcome any and all comments.

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