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NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino insinuates that refs may slow down the Philadelphia Eagles offense

ESPN football analyst Christ Mortensen earlier reported that NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told the Wall Street Journal the following with regard to the fast-paced offense Philadelphia Eagles' new head coach Chip Kelly plans to run with his team:

"We have to make sure teams understand that they don't control the tempo, our officials do. We're going through our normal ball mechanics, we aren't going to rush [unless] it's in the two minute drill."

That makes sense, because that's what fans are really wanting to see are officials holding up the tempo of a game over a new style of offense which attempts to speed things up a bit.

I think what Blandino is really saying is this:

"Look - some of our refs are in good shape, but let's face it - they're not in near as good of shape as NFL players like LeSean McCoy, Michael Vick, and DeSean Jackson. While Chip Kelly may want to run his offense at a speed not ever seen before, he's going to have to wait for our aging men to run to the spot of the football, mark it, and all of that good stuff. We like new things. We like watching fast players. But we also like sitting at home and eating lots of potato chips and the fact we'll be eligible for Medicare before too long. It's not fair for us to risk pulling a hamstring or tripping and falling over a blade of grass just to try and keep up with Chip Kelly and his quick offensive approach. The fans may not like it, but like the refs, they should be able to empathize wanting to just sit down, eat junk food, and watch the game. After all - they're paying for these tickets, paying for the entertainment, paying for food and drinks, and paying to watch the refs slow down the Philadelphia Eagles' offense. I thank you all for your time and understanding. Now I'm going to join the refs in our daily 2-meter marathon. As usual, we'll need to have Gatorade injected in our veins when this is all through!"

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9521983/refs-force-chip-kelly-philadelphia-eagles-slow-down

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