Heck, NFL Network even dedicated one of their Top 10 shows to “The Most Controversial Calls” of all time.

Remember the Tom Brady and the “Tuck Rule”? Jamie Dukes called “one of the most heinous crimes ever committed against a team.”

And how about the official who screwed up the coin toss? Imagine if that happened to a replacement ref.

This video below also includes the controversy over the “Music City Miracle.”

And No. 1 on the list was Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception.” Back in those days, a pass couldn’t be tipped from one player to the next. Imagine if replacement refs were on the call for that one.

Since I was a Steeler fan, I’m glad they made that call.

Sunday, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post wrote:

If you scroll back to roughly this time four years ago, you would find that many of the same print and electronic media, letter-writers and callers to radio shows, who now are demanding a return of the tried-and-true NFL game officials, were calling for a total overhaul of NFL officiating, a demand to replace the old with the new.

Many fans and media, without suggesting or considering how officials spend the rest of the week and year, demanded that the NFL hire full-time officials.

Now, this isn’t too excuse what happened last night in Seattle. It was terrible and inevitable. The NFL deserved to get burned for playing with fire with the replacement refs.

The blown call should hasten the return of the regular refs. When the stripped-shirt brigade does return, they should give thanks to all the network analysts, who despite their networks having big-money deals with the NFL, have been grilling the league for their ridiculous hard-line stance against the referees.

I listened to the end of the game on radio and Kevin Harlan and Dan Fouts tore into the NFL in the aftermath.

Still a little perspective. Things will get better when the regular referees come back. But as the videos show, they won’t be perfect.