I’ve got to admit, I expected the “NFL’s Officiating Command Center” to look…I don’t know, more official?
Social media certainly agreed with me, and went wild when the Sunday Night Football broadcast “threw it over” to an inside look of the command center for NFL officiating.
It’s a little unsettling to know that this room has the power to basically decide football games. We’ve seen plenty of matchups just this season come down to the final play, just to have the game seemingly affected by a referee either calling or not calling something.
And may I remind you that a questionable call in last year’s Super Bowl gave the edge to the Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and allowed them to take down the Philadelphia Eagles.
Imagine how big of a stage that is, and then imagine a call that is being reviewed being thrown to this room:
Part of me is hoping that normally, the command center would be more polished and professional, and it looked like this only because it was a Sunday Night Football game.
But another part of me likes to think that this is it, and that the NFL’s biggest games are sometimes held in the hands of these four men in a mess of an office in an undisclosed location.
Social media had a field day with the image of the NFL’s Officiating Command Center, and had no problem coming up with jokes and memes that perfectly encapsulated the chaotic scene that was laid out in front of the SNF audience:
The NFL officiating command center looks like the back room security of a Chuck E Cheese
— Sally Mo (@sallimonella) October 16, 2023
The NFL Officiating Command Center looks highly professional #NFL
— Z (@stankylegs16) October 16, 2023
I so desperately want to spend a Sunday in the NFL Officiating Command Center
— ashley (@aashley_marie) October 16, 2023
That NFL officiating “command center” looks like it’s just a corner table at a Buffalo Wild Wings 😂
— Nicky Brrrr 🇨🇴🇮🇹 (@0hhNico) October 16, 2023
The NFL officiating command center looks like a high school lab class no wonder they’re calling bullshit all day
— Coach Bombay (@GluttonSeason) October 16, 2023
Wait….there is an “NFL Officiating Command Center?”
— Bryce McCuin (@bryce_mccuin) October 16, 2023
Yes there is, and after this social media frenzy, I’d imagine it will be getting a facelift, and possibly a more strict dress code…
