Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love didn’t have to say a word to let everyone know how he feels about NFL officiating right now.
Love and his wife, Ronika Stone, dressed up as blind referees for Halloween. Their costumes were complete with striped shirts, sunglasses, walking sticks, and yellow penalty flags. Stone posted the video on TikTok, and it didn’t take long for it to go viral (video here).
However, the joke could end up hitting Love right in the checkbook.
The NFL doesn’t take kindly to players criticizing officials, and the league already fined one of Love’s teammates for doing exactly that after Green Bay’s controversial Week 7 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Jordan Love Likely Has Hefty Fine Coming His Way
Love wouldn’t be the first Packer to pay for taking a shot at the refs this season.
After the Lions loss, All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney didn’t pull any punches about the poor job he thinks the refs have been doing this year.
“I don’t know how the NFL’s going to treat it, but I’m not a big fan of the refs right now,” McKinney said. “Don’t think it’s great officiating, if I’m being completely honest. I think it’s bulls*** a lot of the times.”
The NFL fined McKinney $25,000 for those comments, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The minimum fine for a player who criticizes an official is typically $25,000, which is likely what Love will be fined for his and his wife’s Halloween antics.
The league has shown it will punish players for what they do on their own time. Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua was fined $25,000 last year for criticizing officials on a podcast.
Head coach Matt LaFleur clearly knows how this works. When reporters asked him about Love’s costume on Thursday, he chose his words carefully.
“He did send me the clip, and I thought it was pretty hilarious,” LaFleur said. “But I probably should refrain from giving my two cents on that.”
There is precedent working in Love’s favor, however. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones dressed up as a blind referee for Halloween in 2022 and reportedly escaped a fine.
Jordan Love and Wife’s Referee Jab Went Viral
In the video, which garnered hundreds of thousands of views across multiple social media accounts, Love and Stone tap their way around with walking sticks before bumping into each other, and then both throw a flag.
When a TikTok commenter warned that Love might get fined for the costume, Stone had a quick answer: “We’re Footlocker employees.”
That excuse would have held up a lot better without the penalty flags.
The timing didn’t help either. Love wore the costume six days after the Packers’ 20-17 loss to the Lions on Oct. 25 at Ford Field, a game in which referee Alex Moore’s crew threw several questionable flags against Green Bay.
Love was called for intentional grounding while Lions safety Brian Branch appeared to go helmet-first into tight end Tucker Kraft with no flag.
Even the NFL seemed to know it was a bad look. Moore’s crew was pulled from the Week 8 “Sunday Night Football” matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders and moved to Patriots-Dolphins. The switch was reportedly more about optics than discipline.
It’s been a frustrating season for Love with the refs. He has reportedly been hit more than any quarterback in the league. However, he hasn’t drawn a single roughing-the-passer penalty through eight games.
Packers QB Jordan Love Bracing for NFL Punishment