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Green Bay Mayor

Tells NFL Honcho

Get These Refs Out!

9/25/2012 10:00 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

The Mayor of Green Bay is so pissed about last night's game -- where replacement refs ROBBED the Packers of a win -- he's going straight to the NFL's head honcho to demand the real refs get back on the job ... TMZ has learned.

Mayor James Schmitt tells TMZ he's drafting a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ... urging him to end the ref lockout because it's compromising the integrity of the NFL.

Exhibit A -- last night's refs robbing the Packers of a win by incorrectly calling Green Bay's interception in the endzone ...a touchdown for the Seattle Seahawks. The Pack lost 14-12.

Schmitt says, "This is not right. I understand talent costs money, but when it comes to the crucial role of the referees ... it has to be a top priority."

Hizzoner is in a unique position because he's also a shareholder in the Green Bay Packers -- the only NFL team publicly owned.

But the Mayor makes it clear ... "We are not protesting losing the game. We are protesting the quality of officiating."


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Stop whining. The idea every on field element needs their own union has America's union founders rolling in their grave.
The bottom line is the NFL Players union has allowed scabs on the field with scabs.

536 days ago


they did the same thing to the saints last sunday! they overturned 3 TD!!

536 days ago


Pretty harsh talk from a beer drinking cheese head loser in a nothing town

536 days ago


I don't know what the exact rule is in football but in baseball a tie goes to the runner. Apply that to this, and assuming it's probably the same in football, the Seahawks were the runner since they were on offense. Even the announcer, who isn't a scab, called it a tie. It's really easy to second guess in slow motion but in real time it looks like a tie to me. Not a Packers or a Seahawks fan. The ref got it right and the packers need to quit crying about it.

536 days ago


THE NFL owners are still making money. They don't care about the refs. They are concerned about PROFITs. Until the players refuse to play and the fanx quit buying tickets. THE NFL owners, dictators will go on with the lock out. FANS and PLAYERS must strike again the league owners.

536 days ago


It's about more than one bad call. The officials also missed a clear penalty when the Seahawks receiver pushed another player to the ground from behind.
Lots of those sorts of penalties are getting missed, and then things escalate. Players are being forced to police themselves, much like hockey, where putting a hit on a chippy player is the only way to try to protect themselves from injury beyond the scope of normal football play.
One player believes that the increased risk of injury is so significant that he is willing to offer $2 million of his own money to see the matter settled and the regular crews return.
These replacements have not earned the players respect. They are not calling enough penalties to settle the players down. And by the end of the games, a lot of them are just getting way out of hand.
One of the main reasons I refuse to watch hockey is that I don't like mixing boxing with other sports. Yet there is at least one shoving match per game. In the Steelers-Oakland game, punches were thrown in the third quarter and by the fourth quarter, a player was carted off the field with serious and potentially debilitating neck injuries.

536 days ago


I am surprised nobody talks about the multi-million dollar business of wagering. If these refs can make this call and it stands, who's to say they don't make another one that helps "the mob" win in Vegas. It certainly doesn't seem like a stretch.

536 days ago


Wait a minute.... when has the NFL ever shown integrity? You pay a few millions of dollars for guys to play less than 25 games a year. The NFL watches as said players get arrested for battery, DUI, running illegal dog fights etc.. and said "players" still manage to walk on the field. Are you kidding me? Players, fans, Mayors are so outraged over substitute refs and yet nobody goes crazy when the million dollar players act like spoiled brats? Give me a break. I have no sympathy for the NFL, the players, etc... It is a game all about the almighty dollar. Nothing more and not a "true sport" about teams having fun playing the sport.

536 days ago

Toasty J    

F--- James Schmitt. Who cares what he has to say. If Seattle had lost this game on a bad call, nobody would give a crap. Wah, Packers.

535 days ago


Sounds like sour grapes to me:


535 days ago


Those refs need to go back to foot locker

535 days ago


Almost as bad as a lock out.... NFL want Bettman?

535 days ago


Why aren't we asking those darn union reps for the referees to come off some of their demands?? Unions are what is ruining this country,.

535 days ago



535 days ago


Goodell is works at the behest of the NFL Owners, and right now the NFL Owners want to bust the NFL Union Refs...So the Bottomline is, that its all about GREED, & MONEY!

535 days ago

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