NFL officiating has increasing scrutiny over the last few seasons as several game changing calls have seemingly gone in the favor of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen has been taking notes of the phenomenon within the league.

Thielen discussed the current state of officiating in the league on Minnesota radio station KFAN 100.3.

"I don't know if I should be going here, but I'm going to." Thielen continued, "I think it's ridiculous that we have--and no offense to these guys, I mean, they obviously love their job, they put a lot of time into it, I know they do--but it's like we have these guys that are kind of fan boys a little bit. Like, they love the fact that they get to go out there and they get to shake hands with Patrick Mahomes, they get to hang out with these professional athletes. And then they go to their real job on Monday through Friday and tell everybody how cool their side job is."

Officials are certainly going to be enjoy being around NFL caliber football. That much is unavoidable. But Thielen believes that the part-time nature of the job makes them more likely to wear their proximity to elite athletes as a badge than to view officiating games as simply doing their job.

Thielen gave a potential solution to the problem.

"I think there should be full time referees. I mean, the NFL has billions and billions of dollars. There's so much money in the game. There's so much betting on the game that these games matter so much."

Thielen discussed the urgency and importance of building the very best officiating crews.

"What about the people who put so much time and effort to try and go and perform well and win games, and all the time the coaches put in? They deserve to have full time referees." Thielen added, "I think it's very easy to do and I don't know why it hasn't been done."

The Minnesota wide receiver made a compelling case, although it's uncertain if the league will adopt the plan. Whether or not having part-time or full-time referees affects the games is still uncertain, but we would likely see officiating become a more professional endeavor with more focus on getting the perfect call.

Thielen and the Vikings will take on the Chicago Bears (6-3) on Sunday.