In today's odd news story of the day from Chris Mortensen at ESPN, the NFL has pulled replacement referee Brian Stropolo from today's Panthers-Saints game…because Stropolo is a Saints fan.
Stropolo is apparently a New Orleans resident, and on his Facebook page, there are pictures of him tailgating in Saints apparel before their August 25th preseason game with the Houston Texans.
Of course, the NFL will probably end up calling this an isolated incident…but if Stropolo is dumb enough to tailgate before a game, support the local team and post pictures to Facebook, how many of the replacement refs out there are smart enough to not be so public about their fandom, and subtlely influence games? This could be the tip of a very large, very dangerous iceberg.
[h/t: ESPN]
