Dec 29, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; head referee James Carter reviews a play with umpire Tom Quick during a game with the Oklahoma Sooners and Florida State Seminoles in the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

nfl

Amidst Growing Number of Bad Calls, NFL Takes Action Against Three Referees

Fans thrilled as the NFL makes bold referee decision!

Bad refereeing is a part of every sport be it at the amateur level or the professional level. It is not possible to get every single call spot on, especially in a physical and contact-oriented sport such as football. After all, referees are also human, and on the field, it takes just a split second for something to materialize. Such instances can be missed as it is a tough job to have eyes everywhere on the field.

Moreover, the players are also at fault, as several instances can be seen where the runner ends up flailing or making contact seem much more than it really was in an attempt to persuade the referee’s decision. Although such behavior is not in keeping with the values of the sport, such things are not uncommon by any means.

The NFL has also brought in technological advancements to help out the referees, but the rules for that also need to be reviewed further. And while we can sit here and attribute the missed calls or wrong calls to human error, the officiating has become quite simply atrocious over the past few seasons. It seems that the league has finally decided to look at the matter at hand and the consequence of bad officiating has been rewarded with a demotion for three referees who officiated games last season.

Which Referees Has the NFL Taken Action Against?

As per multiple sources, the league has decided to demote three referees; James Carter, a second-year umpire, Robin DeLorenzo, a third-year line judge, and Robert Richeson, a rookie down judge have all been sent back to officiate college football games.

The NFL fired three officials and demoted them to power conferences in college football, per @footballzebras.

Second-year umpire James Carter, third-year line judge Robin DeLorenzo, and first-year down judge Robert Richeson were the officials sent back to the college ranks. pic.twitter.com/j4GwisR6i6
— Football Forever (@fballforeverhq) April 10, 2025

Also Read: Exploring the Merits and Demerits of the 18-Game Season Proposal for the NFL

The decision to demote these referees comes on the back of another report just days ago when the league decided to reassign three-year referee Tra Blake to the role of umpire. The reason for the change is not clear but it may be due to a horrible missed face-mask penalty in a game involving the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams as well as a missed pass interference call on Chiefs’ safety Bryan Cook against the Atlanta Falcons which prevented a go-ahead touchdown with just about 4 minutes left in the game.

The NFL fired three officials and demoted them to power conferences in college football, per @footballzebras.

Second-year umpire James Carter, third-year line judge Robin DeLorenzo, and first-year down judge Robert Richeson were the officials sent back to the college ranks. pic.twitter.com/j4GwisR6i6
— Football Forever (@fballforeverhq) April 10, 2025

NFL fans have been calling for such strict action against the referees as numerous instances have revealed the blatant missed calls or calls benefiting certain teams and or players with most of them being directed at Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs who have come to be known as the darlings of the league. The presence of Taylor Swift at Chiefs’ games due to her ongoing relationship with tight end Travis Kelce has further fueled the narrative that the league helped Kansas City reach the Super Bowl with referees being biased toward the team.

Whether this approach marks a significant change in refereeing decisions for the 2025 season will definitely be an interesting thing to watch out for. But for now, fans can only hope that the games will be called in the right manner and all teams are treated equally once the pads are on.

NFL

NFL referees controversy

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!