NFL Referees asking a football player, coach, or any team personnel for an autograph or any other piece of NFL memorabilia is certainly permitted… but it has to go through the league’s officiating department.
So why would two officials (Tripp Sutter and Jeff Lamberth) at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers game, approach Mike Evans in the tunnel after the game and request ‘something’ to be signed… written on… or whatever.
Sheena Quick a Carolina Panthers beat writer posted the following video on her twitter account…
Take a close LOOK at the 00:18 second mark… you see the referee (Jeff Lamberth) standing on the right of Mike Evans as he takes a look up and stares directly into the camera as he is being filmed… and immediately walks to his left followed by Mike Evans as though to say… ‘Oh Crap… this ain’t good.’
The Bucs lost the game sure… but this type of interaction reflects badly on officials when it is their responsibility to not favor one team or player over another.
There is lots-O-money riding on these games and having referees have a ‘say’ on the outcome of a game… one way or another is certainly not a good thing to see.
