One of the replacement officials assigned to referee Sundays Saints game has been pulled from the assignment. Official word from the NFL. The NFL was made aware he was a Saints fan and pulled him to avoid bias calls. The NFL was unaware he was a Saints fan until ESPN contacted the league with the story. Brian Stropolo was the referee in question. When ESPN got a hold of facebook pictures of Stropolo in Saints gear from a preseason game (this year) they contacted the NFL with the images.
Stropolo updated his Facebook status last week saying he was assigned to referee the Saints upcoming game. Drawing 73 likes and comments like “Hey,now be nice with those yellow flags.”
The NFL Referees Associations has been in a lockout since early June. They are trying to talk about a new collective bargaining agreement but haven’t gotten very far.
