NFL suspends referee for 'profane and derogatory statement'

[ratso]

NFL suspends referee for 'profane and derogatory statement'

UPDATED NOV 22, 2013 7:07 PM ET

ASHBURN, VA. (AP)

An NFL game official was suspended Friday for one game without pay for making "a profane and derogatory statement" to a Washington Redskins player, an incident that has led to a call for NFL players to stop using the N-word on the field and in the locker room.

The league announced Friday that umpire Roy Ellison will not work an NFL game this weekend as punishment for words directed at left tackle Trent Williams late in the second quarter of the Redskins' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Williams said he was called vulgar names -- although not the N-word -- by Ellison and did nothing to provoke it. A replay from the second quarter shows Ellison gesturing at Williams while walking backward just before a snap, with Williams, quarterback Robert Griffin III and tight end Niles Paul turning to look back at the umpire. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan was among those who supported Williams, saying: "You just can't use that type of language to get your point across."

But John Wooten, chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, said his organization spoke to game officials who said that Ellison was responding after Williams directed the N-word at Ellison. Both Williams and Ellison are African-American. The incident, coming in the wake of allegations involving racially charged texts alleged sent by Richie Incognito to a Miami Dolphins teammate, led the alliance to issue a statement imploring all NFL players to stop using the racial slur.

"I think that we all understand clearly that in terms of supporting Roy, we're not in any way condoning his reaction to what happened," Wooten told The Associated Press. "There's no question in our mind what provoked all of this, that there was a disrespectful communication going on between Trent and an Eagle player. They were using the N-word along with all other type of profanity, and the N-word is what caused Roy to say, `Hey, you need to be more respectful.'"

Wooten, 76, said Williams then directed the profanity at Ellison.

"There is no question in my mind that Trent said this to Roy, and I don't question that," said Wooten, who noted that he has not spoken to Ellison directly. "And that's what, with Incognito and all this stuff and the N-word and how it's used in the locker room, that caused us to say, `Hey, let's put an end to this.'"

Wooten, who played nine season in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and Redskins, said Ellison should have thrown a flag on Williams instead of escalating the exchange.

Williams, 25, said on Wednesday he didn't expect the league to punish Ellison, saying the NFL would "probably sweep it under the rug." He also reiterated that he did not say anything provocative to Ellison.

"If I said something of that nature to him, it's at least a flag, or I'm thrown out of the game," Williams said. "I'd never say anything like that to a referee."

Said Wooten: "I know that Trent has said he didn't say that. If that's what he wants to live with, he can live with that."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/nfl- ... ams-112213

 

[ClumsyLurk]

Refs that involve themselves like this in the game, wtf?

 

[ratso]

Trash talking refs. It was only a matter of time I guess.

 

[-The Glove-]

Trent Williams is a female dog

 

[penihawk]

:13:

 

[Sports Hernia]

Too bad the NFL doesn't suspend the NFL officials that blow calls in big moments of games (see Mike Carey's crew and bill Leavy and crew) That would be progress!

 

[mikeak]

He must have called him redskin...

 

[Kixkahn]

I am so sick of the n-word. They need to make up their minds either you are ok with the word or your not. This freaking out if a white person says it, but calling each other that is stupid. All this he said this she said that boo hoo hoo garbage makes me sick.

 

[Smelly McUgly]

I am so sick of the n-word. They need to make up their minds either you are ok with the word or your not. This freaking out if a white person says it, but calling each other that is stupid. All this he said this she said that boo hoo hoo garbage makes me sick.

Yeah, how dare THOSE PEOPLE have a word you can't use! It really makes life so hard and unfair for you!

 

[therealjohncarlson]

I am so sick of the n-word. They need to make up their minds either you are ok with the word or your not. This freaking out if a white person says it, but calling each other that is stupid. All this he said this she said that boo hoo hoo garbage makes me sick.

Yeah, how dare THOSE PEOPLE have a word you can't use! It really makes life so hard and unfair for you!

I just hate how theres this fake outrage over people using the N word. My white friends all say the N word to each other as a term of endearment / jokey thing and I have never seen someone react in utter shock like the news outlets seem to expect us to. Like Im not expecting people to think its ok that my friends and me call each other the N word, but I wouldnt really expect anyone to be shocked or anything that we say it

 

[mikeak]

^ your white friend call each other the N word and nobody among them have an issue with it? Have any black friends that ever cared to comment on the issue?

 

[Seahwkgal]

^ your white friend call each other the N word and nobody among them have an issue with it? Have any black friends that ever cared to comment on the issue?

Well, my husband and his best friend do this....right in front of my son(who is considered black). My son doesn't blink an eye. He thinks the whole PC shit is ridiculous. He knows when someone "means" it in a derogatory way.

 

[-The Glove-]

^ your white friend call each other the N word and nobody among them have an issue with it? Have any black friends that ever cared to comment on the issue?

Well, my husband and his best friend do this....right in front of my son(who is considered black). My son doesn't blink an eye. He thinks the whole PC shit is ridiculous. He knows when someone "means" it in a derogatory way.

Is your husband his father? Or did he have a part in raising him?

 

[Seahwkgal]

^ your white friend call each other the N word and nobody among them have an issue with it? Have any black friends that ever cared to comment on the issue?

Well, my husband and his best friend do this....right in front of my son(who is considered black). My son doesn't blink an eye. He thinks the whole PC shit is ridiculous. He knows when someone "means" it in a derogatory way.

Is your husband his father? Or did he have a part in raising him?

My husband is his stepfather. He didn't raise him or meet him until he was almost 16. He is 22 now.
My son has come to his conclusions all on his own and actually considers his biological father a bigot. lol. My son is a very smart kid but still a typical early 20's like we all were at one time in our life. He hates that people have to be labeled, and has friends of all colors and cultural backgrounds. He doesn't leave anyone out.