The NFL's regular officiating crews are back. Their return couldn't have come soon enough for many players, coaches and fans.
After two days of marathon negotiations - and mounting frustration throughout the league - the NFL and the officials' union announced at midnight Thursday that a tentative eight-year agreement had been reached to end a lockout that began in June.
The deal came on the heels of Seattle's chaotic last-second win over Green Bay on Monday night in which the replacement officials struggled. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was at the bargaining table Tuesday and Wednesday, said the regular officials would work the Browns Ravens game at Baltimore on Thursday night.
This is great news for all the parties involved except for the replacement refs, who will have to go back to their less exciting day jobs.
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