He read the 94 words, but these were the most jarring: His services would no longer be needed.
‘Follow the play’
Lance Easley, NFL replacement ref, lives with blown Packers-Seahawks touchdown call
Video: Nearly three months ago, Lance Easley was a replacement NFL official and became infamous for a controversial touchdown call on Monday Night Football. His signal created a ripple effect that has affected the playoff picture, as well as ending the league-imposed lockout. But Easley received threats and believes he has been blacklisted as a college official.
He remembers the goosebumps of that first game, of hearing the fighter jets’ engines as the opera singer hit the final note of the national anthem.
“This is really happening,” he remembers thinking.
At first he underestimated the NFL’s grandeur. Easley thought a punt returner had lined up too deep, then watched the ball sail farther than he’d imagined. The speed was harsh, making each official’s learning curve steeper, their insecurities more noticeable.
“You don’t want bizarre when you’re a replacement,” Easley says. “You want simple and normal.”
By the end of his crew’s second regular season game, there was blood on Easley’s shirt from scuffles between Redskins and St. Louis Rams players, and his mind was drained.
Easley had thrown a flag for a late hit against Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III, and his eyes had focused an instant too early. Griffin wasn’t out of bounds when he was touched by Rams linebacker Ernie Sims.
After each game, NFL officials are graded, receiving pluses and minuses depending on calls and no-calls. He was given a minus for the late hit, which Easley still disagrees with because he felt he was protecting the Redskins’ franchise quarterback.
“The spirit of the call was right,” he says.
By then, though, the replacement officials were under heavy scrutiny. Mistakes were rampant during a nationally televised game between the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons, and ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico called it “embarrassing” during the telecast. The NFL’s credibility was being battered.
Easley admits the continual criticism affected his on-field decisions.
“I would think through my calls,” he says, “thinking, ‘What’s the media saying?’ ”
The day before Easley and his crew traveled to Seattle, a simmer of frustration was becoming a boil. Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan berated a replacement official at the close of the Redskins’ loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick grabbed an official at the end of a loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Shanahan and Belichick were later fined.
Before the Monday night game, Easley sidled next to Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a central California native. They were a long way from home, Easley told Rodgers.
That peace turned to tension during another game that exposed the officials’ inexperience. It began with a roughing-the-passer call against the Packers, negating an interception. The game’s 15th penalty, which Easley flagged, was a debatable pass-interference call on first down and 25 yards to go against Green Bay’s Sam Shields.
“I don’t even believe they’re going to call this,” ESPN analyst Jon Gruden said during the broadcast of the game.
With time expiring, the Seahawks needed a touchdown to win. Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson scrambled to his left. Easley, expecting any pass to land short of the goal line, stood near the pylon and eyed players running toward the end zone.
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