So, why is there funneling of family members into the NFL? It cannot be all about love of the game or family reputation, right? Well, it's not. It's about money. Yes, NFL officiating--and its selection process--has been tainted by the allure of cash. Over a 20-year career an NFL official can expect to make, at their current salary, $2.5 million more than a Division 1 official.
This started in the mid-1990s when the first high-paying contract was signed with the owners. Until then the one thing every official--the ones who put in the time, the trips on the road driving six hours to work small college games, the meetings in both the preseason and during the season, all for the love of the game--knew was that it wasn't about the money.
A Division 1 official would work an NFL game for $3,000 per game--about $1,500, on average, more than they make now--for their whole career and be happy, which would save the NFL millions of dollars per year. Those savings could go to, say, the NFL players' alumni association to help pay for medical costs to those who deserve it and who made the game of football what it is today.
And now, being selected as an NFL official no longer holds the distinction of being the culmination of a long, accomplished career; it is merely a pot of gold at the end of the road.
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