UFL takes transparency to the next level, with in-game interview of official
· Yahoo Sports
When it comes to officiating, the UFL has fully embraced transparency. On Friday night, the UFL took transparency to the next level.
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Via Matt Clapp of Awful Announcing, the game between the Columbus Aviators and the St. Louis BattleHawks included an interview of field judge Gabriel DeLeon.
During the game.
Fox's Brock Huard asked DeLeon about conversations with BattleHawks coach Ricky Proehl regarding the failure to call pass interference on contested throws.
“If there’s a back shoulder and I’m looking at that and, you know, there’s no material restriction, I’m just gonna leave it alone to be honest with you," DeLeon told Huard.
“So if the throw is not where it should be — if that throw's not there — you’re not gonna reward a poor throw on something like that?” Huard said.
"Yeah, that works," DeLeon said. "That works for me."
Huard asked one more question regarding the difficulty of drawing the line. DeLeon didn't answer; the game was going on, and he needed to get back to work.
While the NFL will surely never allow officials to be interviewed during games, the NFL could learn plenty from how the UFL handles its officiating business. The more fans see and hear the communications with officials regarding the effort to get calls right, the less they'll suspect that something fishy is going on.