Glen Johnson (2014)

Do you like waffles? What was the most mind blowing play you've ever seen? Who do you think will win the cup?

Hey Glen! Thanks for taking our questions.

Has the CFL ever considered changing the "no yards" rules for punts? It seems it's being called more and more every season and to be honest, it seems like a hard rule to enforce accurately.

Also, are there any plans to make the discussion among officials more efficient? From a fans standpoint, it takes quite some time to sort out even simple, obvious infractions. The NFL (for comparison sake) seems to use a radio system to tell the head official the call and the call is made quickly.

Thanks for taking the time to do this! Much appreciated!

1. What was the most controversial call you made as an on field official?

2. What was the closest and most difficult review that you've seen come through the booth?

3. Do you ever miss being an on field official?

4. Were you ever able to go to Zak's Diner in the Byward Market in Ottawa?

OK, so I'll start it off. 5 rather easy questions.

What's the best part of your job? How did you come into your job? Why is Canadian football better then American football? What's your best story about your job? And, finally, what stadium has the best concessions?

What's your view on PI being a reviewable call this season? Do you think the enormous pause in the game is worth getting the right call?

Hey Glen,

Obviously the referees are supposed to have a completely non-biased, neutral stance on every team in the league, but before you got into officiating, who was your favourite team?

Is there somewhere we can see referee ratings? What is the process for dealing with blown calls or other obvious errors by the guys in stripes

Hi Glen, first off thanks for doing this.

This season there has been more penalties called on teams than in previous years. Is this because the referees are no longer being as lenient (turning a blind eye) or are players just being more undisciplined?

Earlier in the year you had said that the league may be putting out video examples of penalties akin to what you show the teams in training camp.

Has there been any further thought to this?

Does the crowd affect you at all when they boo you for "wrong" call?

Hey Glen, after being in the CFL field for long, do you feel it's the hardest sport to officiate? I know the NHL refs catch a lot of heat and in America, NBA refs catch a ton for being too soft. In your opinion, if football/CFL the toughest sport to call?

My other question, do you feel as a league, the rules are keep players safe? I've seen much more harder, bone crunching hits in the CFL than the current NFL rules would never allow.

Has the rule committee every considered a change to the single point rule where a non-returnable ball does not count as a single point? For example team A punts the ball through the end-zone, or a missed FG sails through the end-zone. Basically perhaps a single point should only be rewarded if team b plays the ball, and is unable to exit their own end-zone. Has this ever been discussed?

Good afternoon Glen Johnson, thanks for taking the time to do this :)

One of the issues I have with the CFL game right now involves QB sneaks into the end-zone. Once the offense gets the ball down to the 1 or 2 yard line it basically becomes impossible for the defense to have any chance of stopping the QB from gaining the 1-2 yards needed to score. Where I first started noticing this was in situations of defensive pass-interference in the end-zone (which results in an automatic first down on the 1-yard line). Defensive pass interference basically equals QB-sneak touchdown.

I would like to see the defense no longer have to give one full yard across the line of scrimmage once the ball is within the defenses own 5 yard line. What are your thoughts?

Any stories involving celebrities? Calls you would have made but didn't? Any funny stories about off-field antics?

How prepared are CFL officials for extremely rare situations? For example, I don't think there has been a drop kick attempted in decades, but someone could try one any time; are you confident the officials would be able to spot that one had happened and rule on it correctly?

And for that matter, has anyone ever been called for a tandem block?

Hi Glen, I have another question. Ben Major made a comment that he's in support of referee's wearing helmets to protect themselves after he was injured by Kyries Hebert cleat. Is the CFL is looking in to this and is this something you would support?

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to do this for us.

My question is about the common courtesy the players have for the refs on the field. Most players, especially in the CFL, hand the ball to the ref after making a play, but you'll sometimes see the ones who just toss it at the ref without looking or caring where it goes once it leaves their hand. While watching at home, this drives me nuts; do the refs care, or do they chalk it up to just the intensity of the game?

Note: I'm not talking about players tossing it TO the ref, I mean the ones who make no attempt and would rather showboat or whatever.

Bonus Question: Do the officials change their view on how much they "should" throw the flag when its the playoffs? (ie: more relaxed)

Hi Glen, I've been a fan of the league for over a decade now.

It seemed at the start of this season, there were a lot more of the "could go either way" calls that were being flagged, and I know some commentators on TSN were quite vocal about it. After about week 7 or so (can't quite remember the exact game), it seemed the refs did a bit of an abrupt change back to letting the "tickytack-stuff" go for the most part.

I guess my question to you is, Did you take over the role this season with the intent of changing the ways games were called? Or was it just part of the fact that there are a few new crews working games, and they were just finding their way?

What was your favourite moment as a ref?

We're coming up on a full season since the reviewable pass interference experiment began. How have your crews, the teams, and the fans been responding to the implementation, and has that response changed any since preseason?

No it is not

From a rules perspective, what's something from the NFL you think would help improve the CFL? Conversely, what's something from the CFL that you think would help improve the NFL?

Will CFL officials ever be hired full-time? I think they do a decent job but when you need other employment to make ends meet, it's hard to spend as many hours of the day reviewing performance and plays as you probably need to to maximize the accuracy rate. I'd love to see the CFL pay officials a living wage and help us to attract the very best talent and keep it. Thoughts?

Hi Glen, did you play football growing up? If so what position did you play.

Mr. Johnson, since the season is drawing to a close what can you see that will change rules or officiating wise for next year?

I've noticed officials have a tendency to be freakishly over-prepared. E.g., keep an extra whistle in your bag just in case you forget your main whistle. And then bring a backup backup whistle just in case you have to use your backup whistle and forget to put another backup whistle in your bag. I worked with a guy who ended up bringing 4 flags to every game for this reason.

Do you find your need to be over-prepared creeping into your non-football life at all?

Mr. Johnson, Sorry in advance for the difficult questions but please elaborate why the n word is banished but not the f word? The slur was directed at Bo Levi Mitchell earlier this year. Also, why is the CFL not more transparent with the list of banned words?

Thank you for helping make the CFL fun to watch!