The NFL Referees Association voted Wednesday to accept a six-year contract offer that increases salaries 50 percent immediately and 100 percent in 2004.

Line judge ready to work

HOUSTON -- Line judge Walt Anderson said Wednesday he is ready to get back on the field after the NFL and the union representing officials reached an agreement on a new contract. "The events of last week played a big role in helping everybody to put things in a better perspective both from officials' standpoint and the league's standpoint," Anderson told Houston television station KRIV. "As an association, the officials were ready to get back on the field," he said. Anderson lives in Sugar Land. -- Associated Press

By mid-evening Wednesday, not all the votes had been tabulated, but more than half of the 119 members voted to accept. According to lead negotiator Tom Condon, votes were coming in 2-to-1 in favor of the six-year deal. No official vote total was announced.

Acceptance of the contract came in time for the officials to return for this weekend's games. To get the ratification done in time, the board had to waive a union requirement that the vote had to be done in person. Early in the day, the board asked members to make flight arrangements to Dallas for a Saturday vote.

Had they waited until Saturday, though, replacement officials would have been employed for a second week of the regular season.

"Our guys felt it was important to return," Condon said. "The officials care about the product. They also care about the players, coaches and management. They wanted to get back to work."

The acceptance finished 24 hours of tension and uncertainty whether it was going to be accepted. The board officially received the league's proposal at 6:30 ET on Tuesday night. It was then e-mailed to the officials late Tuesday night.

According to the proposal, game salaries would increase 50 percent this year, 70 percent in 2002, 90 percent in 2003, 100 percent in 2004, 125 percent in 2005 and 150 percent in 2006. Similar percentage increases would occur in playoff games and the Super Bowl.

Under the previous seven-year agreement, a first-year official received $24,825 for a 15-game season, a fifth-year received $30,465, a 10th-year $40,470, a 15-year $53,565 and a 20th-year $69,990.

The NFL did lessen the increase for the older officials. In the first year of the contract, the maximum an official can make in a game is $6,000. Later in the contract, the maximum is capped at $8,000 a game.

There were also significant enhancements in offseason assignment pay for seminars and visits to training camp. For example, the officials now will receive $3,500 for attending a three-and-a-half day rules seminar and training session in July whereas in the past their stipend was minimal.

Those numbers turned out to be significant in the end because the seminar payment accounted to around $420,000 a year in the first two years.

"One of the thoughts coming from our last deal in 1994 was the officials didn't want to leave any dollars on the table," Condon said. "The gross dollars are the same as the league's last offer, but some of the money was moved into different areas."

The league's previous final offer was for a 60-percent increase in the first year and 100 percent in year three. Money was shifted into the offseason payments. Also, officials now will get first-class airline seats traveling to preseason games. Prior to the deal, they traveled first class only during the regular season.

Steelers owner Dan Rooney and NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw played a significant role in mediating the deal. Each was involved with two days of negotiations Sunday and Monday.

The NFL used replacement officials during the final week of the preseason and the first week of the regular season. There will be no back pay for the missed games by members of the NFLRA.

Those replacement officials are being paid $2,000 a game and are guaranteed two more game checks.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.