Look back at the best of Week 3." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto001" width="640"/>Referee Gene Steratore looks on during the Week 4 game between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore on Thursday, September 27. It was the first game back for the regular referees after a three-week lockout. Check out the action from Week 4 of the 2012 National Football League season.
Look back at the best of Week 3.
Running back Trent Richardson of the Cleveland Browns flips upside down during a run against the Baltimore Ravens Thursday.
Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens runs the ball against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday.
Umpire Bill Schuster, center, and referee Gene Steratore break up a fight between Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens players during the game on Thursday.
Quarterback Brandon Weeden of the Cleveland Browns hands off to running back Trent Richardson on Thursday.
Outside linebacker Paul Kruger, center, of the Baltimore Ravens celebates after inside linebacker Ray Lewis, left, sacked Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden on Thursday.
NFL officials take the field before the start of the Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns game in Baltimore on Thursday.
Wide receiver Joshus Cribbs of the Cleveland Browns lies unconscious on the ground after getting hit by linebacker Dannell Ellerbe in the first quarter Thursday.
Quarterback Brandon Weeden of the Cleveland Browns makes a pass Thursday.
Wide receiver Torrey Smith of the Baltimore Ravens catches a touchdown pass in the second quarter against cornerback Tashaun Gipson of the Cleveland Browns Thursday.
Umpire Randy Tabler gives a thumbs up as the regular officials take the field Thursday for the first time this season.
- Fans give officials standing ovation before Thursday game at Baltimore
- There was no signature gaffe during Thursday's game
- The NFL labor deal with referees locks in pay raises, protects pensions for five years
(CNN) -- The real referees were greeted with a standing ovation Thursday night as they returned to the field after a new contract was announced less than a day earlier.
It may be the last time fans will voice their opinion on the recent NFL lockout that brought replacement referees to the football field.
Thursday's 23 to 16 win by the Baltimore Ravens over the Cleveland Browns went on without much controversy, a far cry from the gaffe-filled display that punctuated the first three weeks of the professional football season.
Before Thursday's game NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he was sorry the league felt it had to resort to the replacements, few of whom had any previous NFL officiating experience. Many were high school or low-level college officials who hold down myriad other jobs, from schoolteachers to attorneys.
'Real' refs to return to NFL after deal
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Green Bay Packers 14-12 on Monday, September 24, after replacement officials, standing in for locked-out NFL regulars, gave possession of a disputed ball to Seattle receiver Golden Tate. Officials in the end zone gave competing signals: one indicating a touchdown, the other an interception.
A timer got stuck (or something) during the 2012 London Olympics, allowing German fencer Britta Heidemann to defeat South Korean fencer Shin A-Lam in the epee semifinal. Shin sat on the piste for an hour, crying at times, while officials worked out the question.
Baseball umpire Bill Joyce admittedly blew a call at first base, robbing the Detroit Tigers' Armando Galarraga of a perfect game vs. the Cleveland Indians in 2010. Joyce wept when he met Galarraga at home plate before the next day's game.
In a 2009 qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup, French striker Thierry Henry got away with touching the ball with his hand — twice — before teammate William Gallas scored the winning goal against Ireland, knocking the Irish out of the competition.
A regular NFL referee screwed up the call on an overtime coin toss on Thanksgiving Day 1998, and the Detroit Lions beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Referees failed to call Germany's Torsten Frings for a handball during a 2002 match, and the U.S. was knocked out of the World Cup tournament.
Argentina's Diego Maradona illegally touched the ball with his hand while scoring a goal against England in soccer's 1986 World Cup tournament. It became known as the "Hand of God" after Maradona credited divine intervention for the dubious goal.
In 1999, the Dallas Stars' Brett Hull scored in triple overtime with a skate in the crease -- which at the time was illegal -- and the Stars went on to win the Stanley Cup over the Buffalo Sabres.
New York Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch put a phantom tag on Jose Offerman of the Boston Red Sox during the American League Championship Series in 1999. Offerman was called out, and the Yankees went on to win.
A 12-year-old baseball fan named Jeffrey Maier reached over the fence to deflect a ball hit by the Yankees' Derek Jeter into the stands for a home run during the 1996 ALCS against Baltimore. Jeter could have been called out for fan interference.
In college football, on-field officials gave Colorado a fifth down (a team gets only four) to score a touchdown during a crucial game against Missouri in 1990. Colorado won 33-31 and went on to claim part of the national title. Missouri fans pulled down the goalpost after the loss.
American boxer Roy Jones Jr. dominated his South Korean opponent in the gold-medal match at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, only to see Park Si-Hun handed the decision.
Umpire Don Denkinger called the Kansas City Royals' Jorge Orta safe at first base despite being beaten by half a step in the ninth inning of a 1985 World Series game against St. Louis. Kansas City went on to win the game and the series.
In the 1972 Olympics, officials reset the clock three times in the final moments to allow the USSR to prevail in the gold-medal basketball game against the undefeated U.S. team. Before the clock was reset, the U.S. team mistakenly celebrated what they thought was a win.
Baltimore Orioles catcher Elrod Hendricks tagged sliding Cincinnati runner Bernie Carbo with an empty glove in a 1970 World Series game, but umpire Ken Burkhart — who had his back to the play — called Carbo out. (By the way, Carbo also missed the plate.)
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
Blown calls in sports history
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Photos: Blown calls in sports
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson throws the winning touchdown pass against the Green Bay Packers in Seattle on Monday night. The Seahawks defeated the Packers 14-12 after a much-questioned call by the referees.
Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate, in navy blue, jumps for the ball, surrounded by Green Bay players. Before he made the catch in the end zone, Tate shoved Packers defender Sam Shields in the back, which would typically draw an offensive pass interference penalty.
The group falls to the ground in the end zone. Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings appeared to intercept the pass and had both hands wrapped around the ball with the ball pulled into his chest.
Referees rush over to make the call.
On Twitter, this is being called the "official photo" of the replacement referee debacle. Two officials in the end zone gave contradictory signals: One signaled a touchdown and the other signaled a clock stoppage, indicating a change of possession and an interception.
Tate and No. 14 Charly Martin wrestle with Jennings.
The play was reviewed on video but was ruled a touchdown. See the best of NFL Week 3.
Controversial end to Seahawks-Packers game
Controversial end to Seahawks-Packers game
Controversial end to Seahawks-Packers game
Controversial end to Seahawks-Packers game
Controversial end to Seahawks-Packers game
Controversial end to Seahawks-Packers game
Controversial end to Seahawks-Packers game
Photos: The Seahawks-Packers final play
That ended Wednesday night when the NFL stuck a deal with officials.
The eight-year deal, which must be ratified by union members, includes details about officials' pensions and retirement benefits, and adds a pay bump from $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013. The pay will rise to $205,000 by 2
It suspended the lockout that began before the league's preseason, leading to a series of gaffes that climaxed in a furor over a botched call that allowed the Seattle Seahawks to walk away with a victory in Monday night's nationally televised game against Green Bay. The league acknowledged Tuesday that the Packers should have won, but allowed the result of the game to stand.
Goodell declined to criticize the replacements despite weeks of botched calls that raised the ire of fans nationwide.
"Everything they did, every call, was magnified," Goodell said. "They kept the game going. They worked hard. They trained hard. They were incredibly focused and dedicated."
Henry Zaborniak, a fill-in line judge who lives in Ohio, said it was a hard job.
"We worked as hard as we could and we did the best we could," said Zaborniak, who spent 15 years as a Big Ten official,. "None of us felt like we could replace the regular guys. You can't replace that sort of ability en masse."
