Roger Goodell outlines how NFL can further implement technology to improve officiating

In light of some recent controversy over whether the Kansas City Chiefs have benefited from some favorable refereeing, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell pushed back hard ahead of Super Bowl LIX.

He called it a “ridiculous theory,” then went on to outline new technology the NFL will continue to adopt to improve officiating.

“This game has gotten so much faster,” Goodell said. “You’re seeing so much more than you did even six years ago. I challenge all of you, go back and look at an NFL game from the year 2000. The quality which you see, the cameras, the angles, the number of cameras, you see an awful lot more.”

The point? NFL officials are flooded with more data than ever when it comes to making the correct call. But there’s still a timing element to it all.

That means there’s always going to be some tug-of-war between using technology and getting the calls in quickly and correctly without overly relying on the use of it.

“So we want to use technology to supplement and assist the officials in getting it right,” Roger Goodell said. “Replay assist this year I think was a big step forward for us. I see us, in the future, adding more plays and we’ll look at that with the competition committee.”

One such play that came under significant scrutiny in the AFC Championship Game was an attempted fourth-down conversion by the Buffalo Bills. Quarterback Josh Allen appeared to potentially have broken the plane of the first down marker, but officials ruled him short.

Immediately the cries of “foul” came from those critical of the NFL’s process. Many want the NFL to use a chip in the ball or some sort of laser technology to mark first downs, something the league has experimented with.

“We have, we tested it I think in the preseason this past year, being able to use that technology,” Roger Goodell said. “It is complicated. Obviously you have a lot of humanity that interferes, potentially, with some of that, at least from a camera angle standpoint.

“But you also have the shape of the ball that is different, and it’s about where the ball is, not where the individual is necessarily. So there are a combination of factors there, but I do think that technology will exist sometime in the future. We’re continuing a lot with our partners how to advance that as quickly as possible so we can get to that place.”

In the instance of the Buffalo call, even the in-house broadcast rules expert questioned the call, which led to more outrage. Roger Goodell praised those rules experts for helping casual fans explain the game better, but he noted even those experts get it wrong sometimes.

“I think, as you know, every network has so-called officiating experts that have been officials on our field,” Roger Goodell said. “And I think they’ve been helpful in trying to explain those rules. And I think we have been more transparent. When we make a mistake on the field we say it. We’re not afraid to do that.

“But there’s so many times where there’s confusion or they don’t understand the rule, and that includes people on television too, don’t take it personally, Curt (Menefee). And I think that’s something we continue to work on to communicate better, educate better, but also to use technology.”

So where exactly might more technology be implemented in the officiating process if not the first down marking?

“I think there are areas like facemasks and some of the other areas we could add to that and assist the officials in what’s a very fast game,” Roger Goodell said. “They don’t have the benefit of going back and looking at replays from 16 different angles and the time and the debate. They’ve got to make a snap decision. So again, I’m proud of what they do, but that does not mean we’re not going to try to continue to get better.”