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AIPROPX ReportYahoo Sports · 31m ago
Al Riveron returns to replay-review role with NFL
Al Riveron is back.
The NFL's former senior V.P. of officiating will return to the league office in 2026, as one of the three persons responsible for conducting replay reviews during games.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN, teams were informed on Wednesday that these individuals will handle the replay decisions : Riveron, Mark Butterworth, and Mike Annibale.
More than a decade ago, the NFL centralized the replay function with the goal of ensuring that one standard will be applied at all times. Previously, the referees made the calls, and the 17 different white hats applied the clear-and-obvious standard inconsistently.
The current system was specifically designed for former senior V.P. of officiating Dean Blandino. When Blandino left for Fox (as Blandino later said, the NFL doesn’t properly value the position), Riveron stepped into the role.
It didn't go well. The tipping point came in 2019, when the league experimented for one season with replay review for calls and non-calls of offensive and defensive pass interference — and when the decisions were all over the place.
Eventually, the league moved on from Riveron, who has spent the last four years with the ACC. Now, he and two others will be making replay rulings.
The rulebook gives ultimate authority over replay review to the senior V.P. of officiating. In recent years, that position has been vacant. This has created confusion as to who is ultimately making the replay decisions.
It's still not clear whether one specific person will be ultimately responsible for all replay-review decisions. The latest news suggests that it will be Riveron, Butterworth, or Annibale.
Will they have final say over the games to which they are assigned? Will they even be assigned to specific games? Will someone in the league office have the ability to overrule their decisions?
Thus, while the latest development answers one specific question, it invites other questions that the teams will surely be asking.
There should be one person in the league office who is present for all games, and who has final say over all replay decisions. It should be the senior V.P. of officiating. Before that can happen, the NFL would have to, you know, give someone that title.
Al RiveronNFLThe NFLV.PVia Adam SchefterESPNRiveronMark ButterworthMike AnnibaleMorePreviouslyDean Blandino
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