Making critical comments in public about NFL officials will surely result in a fine for a player. Los Angeles Rams linebacker Clay Matthews experienced that firsthand by receiving a $12,500 fine for a post that he made on Twitter, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
NFL fined Rams’ LB Clay Matthews $12,500 for the below tweet: https://t.co/dZXKqrFGX9
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 19, 2019
The tweet that earned Matthews the fine mention that NFL officials have consistently displayed an inability to make accurate calls on a weekly basis. He also mentioned that Senior Vice President of Al Riveron continues to ‘blindly' side with the referees and that has helped the ‘status quo' to continue.
The storyline for the 2019 season continues to be the refs inability to make the accurate and correct calls week in and week out. Al Riveron continues to blindly side with his refs and the current status quo. Something must change! Zero accountability. …#throughthewire
— Clay Matthews III (@ClayMatthews52) October 15, 2019
The matchup between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers that was last week's Monday Night Football matchup caused a firestorm of criticism about referees due to a mistake made that many believe caused the Lions to lose 23-22. This is what Matthews' tweet was referencing and he was far from alone as many former NFL players and coaches along with media members took to Twitter to vocalize their displeasure.
Former Colts punter Pat McAfee called out Riveron on ESPN's Get Up show by calling him a ‘terrible leader of men' and stating that the current referees feel like ‘replacement refs' when watching games. He has been an outspoken critic of officiating and Riveron, in particular, throughout the season.
The officiating is worse than it’s ever been.. It all starts with Alberto Riveron being an incredibly terrible leader of men @GetUpESPN pic.twitter.com/9rlB0fGrLw
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 14, 2019
When game-altering mistakes from referees cause teams to experience a significant plummet in their chance of victory, it doesn't take long for it to go viral. However, it seems like it doesn't take long for almost weekly outrage to fade into background noise with no changes made.
It seems unlikely that the displeasure that many have with NFL officiating is going to stop anytime soon.