NFL pulls replacement ref from game

[cajuncocoa]

One of the replacement officials assigned to the New Orleans-Carolina game Sunday is a Saints fan, according to his Facebook page. After being made aware of the situation this morning, the NFL made the decision to pull side judge Brian Stropolo from the officiating crew and replace him with the alternate who travels with the crew.

Stropolo, who is from New Orleans and lists himself on Facebook as an NFL side judge, posted pictures of himself in Saints gear tailgating at an Aug. 25 preseason game. Stropolo did not work the game against the Texans, but he was assigned to Sunday's game in Carolina.

Stropolo worked the Week 1 opener between the Cowboys and Giants and posted on Sept. 5: "Thanks to everyone for all the support. The crew did a great job tonight. Next stop September 16th at Carolina vs the Saints."

Stropolo's status update drew 73 "likes" and comments such as "Hey, now be nice with those yellow flags for our Saints!!" and "That's awesome you get to be an official for a Saints game! I didn't think they would let you since your (sic) from Louisiana."

More: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8386973/nfl-pulls-replacement-ref-new-orleans-saints-game

 

[ElGatoGrande]

I imagine most of the officials have favorite teams and that sometimes they officiate games with their favorites playing,,, my problem with this guy is that he isn't bright enough to know public declarations of team loyalty isn't kosher for an official.

 

[MonsterD]

Don't worry enough under the table money and he can become a Steelers fan.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

Don't worry enough under the table money and he can become a Steelers fan.

:laugh2:

I don't know why I'm laughing though,,, those bastids.

 

[The Emperor]

Which leads me to wonder if an official has ever been pulled from one of our games for being a Cowboys hater. Anyway, here's your snippet:

"He was replaced because of the information that surfaced disclosing that he is a Saints fan," league spokesman Michael Signora said.


The league will look further into the matter. It received several phone calls and emails about Stropolo, who is from New Orleans and posted several photos of himself in Saints gear tailgating at a preseason game on his Facebook page.


Stropolo worked the Week 1 NFL opener between the Cowboys and Giants.

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20120916/8943c18d-008b-434d-8abb-3aac69d59643

 

[burmafrd]

probably had that on his facebook long before he ended up being a replacement official


Wish they would have pulled some of the regular refs in the past that clearly had favorite teams

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

 

[ghst187]

too bad more scrutiny isn't paid to NBA refs too....or maybe the league front office is pulling the strings anyway....

 

[cajuncocoa]

There's more!

Official who worked Seahawks-Cardinals game has ties to Seattle

 

[big dog cowboy]

The NFL didn't find out about this until this morning?