It's time to fine Irsay for his impertinent tweet about the officiating

Talks between the league and its teams are supposed to be private. Irsay didn't care. He yapped anyway. And now he needs to pay for it.

The first thing the NFL has to do is fine Jim Irsay – at the very least.  I mean, he’s virtually begging for it, daring the league to stand up and take issue with the fact he shared a private conversation with the league regarding the controversial calls near the end of the Colts-Browns game.

In case you missed it, here was the Tuesday-night tweet, or X, or whatever the hell you call it these days:

“#5 QB Anthony Richardson’s surgery today in LA was a success! It was a long procedure and his shoulder injury  has been repaired. No new surprises were found during surgery – they just repaired what was expected. Anthony is doing well and thanks everyone for the support. (There is presently no date for his return.)

Ever hear that the surgery wasn’t a roaring success? No, you don’t. But that’s the hope, so we’ll leave it there.

Then he jumped the shark, endearing himself to local fans while upsetting the league and putting himself in the crosshairs.  

The NFL admits and understands that they did not make the correct calls at the end of Sunday’s Colts/Browns game. I believe we need to institute Instant Replay for all calls, including Penalties, in the last two minutes of All Games.

Yikes.

Every week, teams send the league questionable calls, asking for clarity, the understanding being that the findings would remain private between the NFL and the team in question.

Why does the league insist on privacy? Largely so they’re not embarrassed, the way Irsay embarrassed the officials with his impertinent tweet. This isn’t the NBA, where the league produces a “last two minutes” report that breaks down all the calls down the stretch of a game. The NBA has a very different approach to official accountability, holding their refs’ feet to the fire every game.

As the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted out Wednesday night, “The NFL communicates with teams on a weekly basis about various calls. Team officials are prohibited from commenting publicly on those discussions. Now, a team owner has publicly said the league admitted to officiating mistakes. Stay tuned.”

Why doesn’t the NFL do this? Why does it have to be a state secret?