Mr Goodell-
I have been an NFL fan since I was a boy.
I have never been so outraged, embarrassed, ashamed, and saddened for the NFL as I am now. The NFL has tried to pretend the replacement referees have not significantly impacted the outcomes of games. The NFL can no longer do so. The terrible calls by the replacement referees that the NFL provided for the Monday Night Football game determined the outcome of that game.
The defensive pass interference call on Sam Shields toward the end of that game was a joke. The Seahawk receiver mugged the Packer's defender and should have been called for offensive pass interference, penalizing the Seahawks further on what was already a 1st and 30 play. Even a non-call would have been better than the call made by the replacement referees. That would have at least left it at second & thirty. Instead, the Seahawks were given a first and ten in Packer's territory.
Then to follow that up with the call on the last play of the game. In order for the receiver to have simultaneous possession of the ball he must first have possession of the ball. Touching the ball isn't possessing it. Golden Tate never had possession of the ball.
If the referee lockout was intended to provide leverage over the referee union then it has been an abject failure. The replacement referees have seriously damaged the NFL's reputation and strengthened the hand of the referees' union.
I have been a Packers fan since I was a little boy growing up in the Lombardi era, even though I lived 1/2 the country away. I had no local team to cheer for--the closest team was over 3 hours away, and the Packers were the team that I got to see most often during the season and in the playoffs. I endured 20 years of mediocrity (at best) until the 90s, and have greatly enjoyed the last 20 years when the Packers were worth watching again. I am a part-owner of the franchise, and so is my son.
The NFL that you are a commissioner of has no integrity after Monday night's game.
For the first time since becoming a fan of the NFL so many years ago I am no longer looking forward to watching the NFL next weekend. I honestly don't care who the Packers are playing, and it is a strange feeling. I will be taking down my Packer's memorabilia at work, which my co-workers have dubbed 'The Shrine' and will be finding something else to do with my family this weekend, and that too will be strange, at first.