Broncos Coach Thinks Officiating Transparency Is Coming Soon

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton has always had a fascinating relationship with NFL referees. He’s an expert at working them during games, and he’s not shy about arguing calls that go against him. He even got a penalty last season when the Broncos played the New York Giants as he ran out onto the field to protest a call. 

But Payton doesn’t usually talk much about officials and officiating beyond specific game situations, which was part of what made his recent comments about officiating to fascinating. According to a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Payton thinks the NFL will have what Florio called “UFL-style officiating transparency within two or three years. 

“And I think every once in a while the benefit of this other league we have, I think quite honestly it’s been helpful for our league,” Payton told Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom.com. “Every once in a while you see something you like, and I think Dean Blandino and his crew, when we kick live right to the booth review, I think that’s healthy. And I think you’ll see that in the next two or three years in our league.”

NFL analyst Dean Blandino has also spoken about this to Rich Eisen of The NFL Network, saying that transparency in officiating “eliminates some of the angst and some of maybe the conspiracy theories.”

But the UFL and what Florio called a “growing number of college conferences” have pulled up the shades and thrown the doors open. He thinks it’s especially important in an era in which legalized betting is an ever-increasing part of the sports landscape, and Payton implicitly agrees. 

“I definitely think you’ll see that coming,” Payton said. “I think it’s healthy, and it’s certainly comforting for the fan when you can see how they arrive at decisions. And I think it’s fair, especially to the officials and the people doing the review, to see what we arrived at.” 

Payton is just one voice, but he also happens to be a member of the NFL’s Competition Committee, and he thinks he’s got plenty of company. 

“I think a number of people feel the same way,” Payton added.

This kind of turnaround would be remarkable given how secretive the NFL has always been been with regard to controversial officiating decisions, but stranger things have happened. Baseball fans thought they’d never have transparency in umpiring, after all, but the ABS challenge system now exposes dozens of bad or wrong calls on a daily basis. 

It would be chaotic to create the infrastructure to implement this level of transparency, but most of the technology exists, and the rest is just about resources and logistics.