NFL and Referees Association Fail to Reach Deal, Break off Talks

The NFL and the NFL Referees Association have ended talks after three days of meetings aimed at reaching a resolution to the disputed labor deal.

No additional meetings are planned or scheduled in the immediate future, according to ESPN.com.

Talks ended Saturday after the two sides could not close the significant gap between them regarding economic issues, including the salary and retirement benefits of the officials.

The NFL was prepared to enter into the regular season with replacement referees after it announced on Aug. 28 that those replacement officials would appear in the season opener between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

With talks seemingly at an impasse, the replacement officials could end up being around a lot longer than many originally thought. Possibly even for the long haul of an entire NFL season.

Ray Anderson, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, has previously said that the NFL is committed to the replacement referees on a “week-to-week-basis.” However, it is prepared to “go the distance” with the referees, for as long as it takes, to get things settled with the NFLRA, according to Albert Breer of NFL.com.

Whatever ends up happening, the football world is collectively holding its breath and awaiting the impending endless amount of missed calls that will likely plague the 2012 NFL season.

Regardless of the type of referee out there on the field on Sundays, there is always going to be someone vehemently in disagreement with the calls made—players included.

Mike Hoag is a Trends and Traffic writer for Bleacher Report and also covers the Cleveland Browns and the NFL for the site. Follow his Twitter @BigHoagowski.