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Roger Goodell: NFL executive, not refs, has final OK on every replay

By The Sports Xchange
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says senior VP Dean Blandino will have the final say on every replay decision. Kevin Dietsch/UPI
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says senior VP Dean Blandino will have the final say on every replay decision. Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Senior vice president of NFL officiating Dean Blandino could be in for a few hectic Sundays at replay headquarters.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday that all NFL replays will be subject to approval by Blandino, not the referee on the field.

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"We are going to centralize the replay back here in New York," Goodell told ESPN. "Dean Blandino will have the final decision. We think that will move it much quicker."

How the league will handle the circumstance of simultaneous replays in separate games is uncertain.

Goodell said Thursday the pace-of-game changes he plans to drive this offseason include replay adjustments. The video review protocol also now affords referees to announce the review result in the stadium without waiting for TV commercial breaks.

Goodell wants officials to "get going, be ready to play."

He told USA Today that trimming commercial breaks to four per quarter - some games including six or more last season - will also be discussed next week at owner's meetings in Phoenix.

"You're always going to be re-evaluating these areas and trying to say, what do we do better here?" Goodell said. "Whether it's in our officiating mechanics, whether it's in our commercial mechanics and how work with our TV partners, what we do in our stadiums -- all those things are going to continue to be high priorities for us."

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