EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The Super Bowl champion New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys and the replacement officials had something in common in the first half as the NFL kicked off its season Wednesday night.
There were some kinks to be worked out.
The penalty-plagued Cowboys took a 7- 3 lead at halftime on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Kevin Ogletree late in the second quarter.
Replacement referee Jim Core and his crew had a relatively easy opening 30 minutes calling eight penalties _ six against Dallas _ but the Giants seemingly were upset with two plays.
On the Cowboys’ first touchdown, Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul screamed that he was being held by Dallas tackle Tryon Smith.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning also wasn’t happy the play before Lawrence Tynes kicked a 22-yard field goal. On third-and-goal from the 4-yard line, nickel back Orlando Scandrick mugged Victor Cruz on a pass at the goal line. Manning held his hand out complaining after the play.
Other than that, the seven-man replacement crew seemingly did well working with the regular officials locked out.
None of the officials had more than nine years’ experience and only one member has worked Division I college games. The rest have handled lower divisions and other leagues.
“I would love to have the best officials on the field, but I have to look at this long-term,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said when asked about the impasse with regular officials during an hour-long forum with fans from all 32 teams before the regular season opened Wednesday.
Goodell said the league wants to increase the number of officials to give it flexibility to determine who’s on the field and to spend more time training officials.
The NFL Referees Association, which covers more than 120 on-field officials, is at odds with the league over salary, retirement benefits and operational issues. The NFL has said its offer includes 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 would ultimately reduce compensation.
“It’ll get solved,” Goodell insisted.
Core’s replacement crew Wednesday night will have Bob Shoulders as the umpire, Greg Maxwell as the head linesman, Joshua Thurow as the line judge, Thaddious Foster as the field judge, Brian Stropolo as the side judge and Larry Babcock as the back judge. Veteran NFL official Dale Hamer will be the replay official.
Core worked three preseason games with a different crew. The six other members of his crew on Wednesday worked three preseason games with Jim Winterberg as the referee.
Core has eight years’ experience as a referee in Division II and III, and other levels. Shoulders has six years’ experience at Division I and II. Maxwell has worked five years in Division III and other levels.
Thurow is the most experienced with nine years in Division II and III. Foster has four years in Division II, Stropolo is the least experienced with three years in Division III. Bobcock has five years in Division III and other levels.
The alternate will be Tim Keese, who has five years’ experience at Division II and other levels.
“Consistency is the most important thing with officiating,” Goodell said.
The league plans to continue to evaluate every play, official by official, to see if they made the right call, Goodell promised. He also expects a bunch of calls on Monday, a day the majority of teams play.
“Officiating is not perfect, but we believe that we have the best officials and that we can get better, and that’s what we’re trying to do long-term,” Goodell said.
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