PHOENIX — Throw the challenge flag.

Stop the nonsense. Deflate the egos.

With the NFL preparing to lock out its officials as labor talks stall, you know who gets penalized: the players and fans.

Very little moves the needle between the flurry of free agent signings, trades and the draft, but this story deserves your attention.

The most popular American sport, long recession-proof, forever immune to greed’s side effects, is prepared to stain its legacy.

Again.

Remember the start of the 2012 season when the league used replacement refs? Of course you do.

Fans started profanity-laced chants at decibels never heard before in NFL stadiums. Players took to social media, demanding the imposters from “Foot Locker” stop ruining the game.

It came to a breaking point with the “Fail Mary” on Monday Night Football, pitting the Seattle Seahawks against the Green Bay Packers. Russell Wilson threw a desperation pass to the end zone that Packers safety M.D. Jennings appeared to intercept, pinning the ball to his body as he rolled on top of Seahawks receiver Golden Tate.

Two players. One Ball. Two different calls. Ruh-roh.

Upon further review, shared possession was ruled, giving the Seahawks a victory. It was the last game the substitute refs worked. The NFL’s face reached an intolerable shade of rouge.

Fourteen years later, the NFL and the NFL Referees Association appear determined to lose credibility again with each blown call.

Labor talks can be uncomfortable. But this is nonsensical. From both parties.

The NFL can give the officials whatever they want, but rich owners did not amass their fortunes by wasting money, unless it is on paying fired coaches and failed quarterbacks.

The league has the power to squash the little guy. It does not mean it should.

The NFL got its message out this week through ESPN and NFL Network, now under the same umbrella, casting the officials in a poor light for their refusal to want accountability and consequences for underperformance.

Scott Green, the NFLRA’s executive director, fired a missive that laid bare the current acrimony.

“Apparently ‘League sources’ are continuing to put out false and misleading information instead of wanting to meet at the negotiating table,” Green said. “The bottom line is our officials work for the wealthiest sports league in America, with profits that far exceed any of the others. That’s normally a point of pride for the NFL. However, our officials are substantially under-compensated when compared to baseball and basketball umpires and referees.”

The NFL wisely issued a memo to all teams prohibiting public comment on the talks, so even off-record conversations are scarce this week.

The officials are not blameless. They want to be compared to MLB umps and NBA refs, but conveniently leave out that those folks are full-time employees. The NFL officials should be as well.

The game is now played by athletes bigger, stronger and faster than ever imagined. The officials’ physical fitness and mental awareness must meet higher thresholds, and that will not happen if they work from August through January.

According to the NFL Network, the league offered its game officials a six-year labor deal with 6.45% annual growth rate in compensation. The NFL Referees Association countered with 10% and $2.5 million for marketing fees.

The NFLRA asking for marketing money might be the funniest thing I have ever heard in a labor proposal. Who is wearing a referee jersey besides Rob Lowe, sitting in the stands waiting for a FOX cutaway to promote a new TV series?

Refs need to get over themselves. Nobody tunes in to see them, despite some wearing schmedium shirts to show off their biceps and microphones to hear themselves talk.

They are necessary, but the sport will go out without them. If there was any doubt, think back to COVID-19. The NFL did not miss a single game.

Per Sports Illustrated, refs make an average of $205,000, with huge bumps for the crew working the Super Bowl. The job is difficult, no doubt. But good luck finding part-time work for roughly $11,000 per week. So, when the officials make concessions non-starters, it is no wonder the alarm is sounding.

Time for Warren Buffett to get the owners in the Casa Grande ballroom and run a cost-benefit analysis on the value of undermining the league’s integrity in a sport in bed with gambling against the price of paying officials.

The NFL has to show some elasticity for the good of the game. The officials have to be realistic about the hill they stand on.

Forgot the marketing nonsense. Go to the annual raises proposals and split the difference.

Good NFL officials are not walking the streets or working college games. Anyone who watched Pac-12 after dark knows all about ref shows.

Still, the NFL appears ready to flex its muscles.

The league will not get caught with its pants down this time around. In 2012, the NFL was caught off guard, forced to pluck unqualified replacements, some of whom were fanboys of specific teams and another of whom was a competitor in the World Series of Poker.

It was embarrassing, suggesting that there were no background checks. The officials’ performance reflected carelessness in the process.

According to ESPN, the NFL has begun recruiting refs and is prepared to begin training them on May 1, with the CBA set to expire on May 31.

At the meetings here, the expectation is that the NFL owners will approve safeguards for games using replacement refs, such as replay enhancements.

Great. Just what we need. Longer games. Nothing screams buzzkill like 15 reviews.

The NFL is too big to fail. But is failing to reach an agreement with the refs worth putting out a dishonorable product?

Both sides have a responsibility to protect the sport.

If September starts with replacements throwing yellow flags, the players and fans will be the ones throwing in the white towel.

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