Fans at stadiums around the NFL could one day get to listen to referees discuss plays under review. In the meantime, at least they will get to see exactly what the replay official is looking at under the hood.
"They'll see the exact same angles at the exact same time as he does," Atlanta Falcons president and NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay told Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com in a Wednesday report.
Darlington: Listen up, rook
The rookie symposium has provided a valuable message for incomers, but will it stick? Jeff Darlington reports. **More ...**
It's a no brainer idea and one of many undertaken this offseason to improve the in-stadium experience for fans. Home teams can no longer fail to show replays on the big board that might not be favorable. Fans will get to see the exact angles the refs sees, in order to better inform their heckling.
"I think this is another example of the league listening to its fans about what they want from the in-game experience," McKay said. "I think throughout this edition of replay, the league, the teams and our broadcast partners have done a nice job of using the available technology to make the game better and make the experience better for the fans."
The league made all scoring plays reviewable last year and will do the same with turnovers. There was concern that all these new reviews would slow down the pace of play, but the average time of games was only one second slower in 2012. We'd still support the replay officials handling all replays, but McKay doesn't see that happening.
"The biggest question over time is, are we ever going to move all decisions upstairs?" McKay said. "College football feels very comfortable with their decision upstairs. But I don't see that in our near future."
