Please Respect The Referees—–from Terrapin Sophomore Max Grossfeld

Please respect the referees, We’re People Too.

 To any one who has ever criticized a referee, I offer one challenge. Put the stripes on and go try it. It is one of the most difficult jobs in the world when it comes to the recall and split second application of a wide variety of rules. The vast majority of the time referees make the correct call. However, people tend to focus on the mistakes. It is truly a thankless job to be in the business of refereeing.

This weekend, the University of Maryland held its Team Passing Camp, a seven-on-seven tournament with a quarterback, center, and five wide receivers playing against seven defensive backs in one-hand-touch football. The games ran for 30 minutes on a running clock with slightly modified rules. The tournament was run excellently and the players seemed to be enjoying themselves with heated, competitive games.

 Coaches need to fight for their teams. They are invested in the game as deeply, if not more their players. As a former high school football player, I know they put in much more time than the players do while they put together game plans and schemes. However, there is an acceptable amount of argument and respectful disagreement that is allowed before it just becomes classless. In summer non-contact games, refereed by mostly university students, the verbal assaults got ugly. The attacks became personal when they began to involve referees’ integrity, intelligence, and even weight. One even got into a verbal sparing match with Head Coach Randy Edsall after Edsall stepped up to defend the referees.

 It is not easy to be a referee. They do it for often times not enough money under thankless conditions. Classlessness will never get a coach a call. It only makes it more difficult for their players to have success, which is truly what the game should be about.

 P.S. Thank you to Randy Edsall and all of the University of Maryland coaching staff for running an excellent tournament and stepping up when it was necessary!

Blog from Max Grossfeld, Terrapin Sophomore

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