While football fans might be falling in love with the XFL’s usage of the sky judge, they shouldn’t expect to see the officiating innovation in the NFL anytime soon.
According to The Washington Post’s Mark Maske, the NFL and its officials are largely uninterested in bringing the sky judge to the league despite multiple coaches pushing for it.
Much like the AAF, the XFL put a referee in the booth to oversee the action and correct any call missed. The sky judge is meant to look out for his crew on the field, ensuring that mistakes aren’t made and even stepping in to eliminate potential challenges.
Unfortunately, NFL referees and league officials seem determined to keep the current system in place despite the weekly occurrences during the season of blown calls.
While we might see NFL coaches push for it once more this offseason, it seems unlikely that the league will consider implementing it for a few more years.