including the packers guard t.j. lang tweeted "got (bleep)ed by the refs. embarrassing..f.l. ". (cheers and applause) and believe me, the packers know embarrassing. (laughter) this call upset even union-busting governor and packer fan scott walker who tweeted "after catching a few hours of sleep, the packers game is still just as painful" adding the hashtag "return the real refs." now, i can see why he wants the union refs back. i mean, crushing the teachers union is fine, but he might have had money on that game! well, sorry, governor walker, but the n.f.l.'s numbers are against you because t.v. ratings are at record highs. sunday night's ratings were up 8% over a year ago which means the free market has spoken! that was a great call! (laughter) because apparently people are tuning in just to see terrible calls! and that was one of the greatest worst calls in football history. (laughter) right up there with brett favre pressing "send." (laughter) people-- they love it. people love sports disasters. that's why they watch nascar or the mets. (audience reacts) i say the n.

and green bay's t.j. lange nfl and wrote fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs. wisconsin's state senator joined in the action on twitter as well. he tweeted nfl commissioner roger goodell's office phone number to his followers. that's not good. he said if the league doesn't end its lockout of the officials, the rest of the season will be a joke. >>> in lighter news to, baseball now and the red hot race for the wild card. in texas, adrian beltre ties the game in the seventh inning with a two-run homer. beltre comes up against in the ninth, knocks in the game-winning run with a single. the a's are now just two games up on the angels for the last wild card in the a.l. in houston, cardinals center fielder jon jay going to rob jason castro of an extra-base hit when he makes a juggling bare handed catch. look at that. it's in the fourth inning. the cards win 6-1 and stay three and a half games up on the dodgers and brewers for the n.l.'s second wild card spot. >>> when we come back, a medical mystery. h

i believe that t.j. lang tweet after the game was reportedly the second biggest sweet in the history of twitter. and as we've just found out this morning, at least reports from nfl.com, the packers are not going to be fined for their, shall we say, regularly tweeted comments that came out after that game tharp sent all over the world over social media. >> found that really interesting. i thought some of the tweets were over the top. usually the nfl would come down hard on players, but they're not in this case. why do you think that is? >> the league is claiming according to this report that they don't fine players for critical comments when it's outside of a certain time period on game day. however, it's being perceived by a lot of people as they're covering their rear end after making this mistake. >> okay. so there are a lot of people out there, too, saying that the replacement refs are interfering with the integrity of the game. the integrity of the very game? i mean, isn't that a little bit overblown? >>

packers guard t.j. lang tweeted just got -- by the nfl. nfl, come on, man. can't even be upset anymore. all i can do is laugh. laugh at the nfl for allowing america's game to come to this. wow. much more later in the newsroom. >>> for the second time in a week, atlanta falcons football player has been arrested. falcons defensive end john abraham was accused of obstructing police and firefighters at the scene of an attempted suicide last night. investigators say he refused orders to leave. the victim, the woman did not jump and was taken to the hospital just last week running back michael turner was arrested on dui charges. >>> will you see governor romney coming out. bill clinton introducing him. >> good morning. i want to begin by thanking governor romney for coming here today. i think this is really important. all of you who are there last night know if we can't find ways to cooperate over these issues, we can't find it anywhere. this is really important. and i -- thought i would introduce him by giving you an example of one personal experience we thing to

the big tweet of the week so far has come from a lineman from the green bay packers, t.j. langhe said, you know what, fine me and pay the refs. let's just do this. let's get the refs back. that tweet has 90,000 tweets. that has more tweets than when the president of the united states came out in support of gay marriage which is one of the biggest hot topics of the past decade. it has more tweets than when beyonce, like the legendary beyonce, made her first tweet and even more tweets than when nasa tweeted out that we landed on the planet mars. >> wow. >> it's totally insane and going to be when we look back at the end of the year at one of the stories, that we're going to be like, wow, this was the story. >> a million tweets about it that night on "monday night football." >> it's insane. >> our last category is the it list, a couple of viral items. first up, this father. showing the pictures a little bit this morning. >> love this dad. this dad is so awesome. so, you know, we've been talking about more serious stuff and serious problems. the internet, it's all about the emotion

t.j. lang of the tweets said there is a potential plan. >> there is a conversation about is there anything that we could do to go on strike or not play games. go out and have an agreement to snap the ball and take a knee every play. >> the head of the national football league association says he doesn't think it is in the players or fans best interest to do that. no response from the nfl. rick doc walker a host for d.c. radio station espn 980 says a players' protest could backfire. >> you have to let it go or it will carry over to the next week. it is unfortunate what happened to green bay but it happened and it's over and you can't reverse it. >> reporter: no question the nfl has got on the the point of a public relations nightmare with the replacement refs that few if any anticipated and the overriding concern the safety of the players. some believe outright chaos has broken out on the field, cheap shots an coaches and players trying to intimidate replacement refs. walker works the sidelines

the big tweet of the week so far has come from a lineman from the green bay packers, t.j. langhe said, you know what, fine me and pay the refs. let's just do this. let's get the refs back. that tweet has 90,000 tweets. that has more tweets than when the president of the united states came out in support of gay marriage which is one of the biggest hot topics of the past decade. it has more tweets than when beyonce, like the legendary beyonce, made her first tweet and even more tweets than when nasa tweeted out that we landed on the planet mars. >> wow. >> it's totally insane and going to be when we look back at the end of the year at one of the stories, that we're going to be like, wow, this was the story. >> a million tweets about it that night on "monday night football." >> it's insane. >> our last category is the it list, a couple of viral items. first up, this father. showing the pictures a little bit this morning. >> love this dad. this dad is so awesome. so, you know, we've been talking about more serious stuff and serious problems. the internet, it's all about the emotion

from packers offensive guard t.j. lang, got -- by the refs, embarrassing. thanks, nfrl.oth sides of the aisle hope the refs lockout ends soon. this after a disputed field goal gave the baltimore raven a one-point win over the patriots and a series of botched calls and misapplied rules that have driven coaches, players and fans crazy. all this because of a labor dispute between the nfl and its regular referees that began when the league locked out the refs in june. the referees want more money, asking for more than the nfl's offer to increase their average salaries from $149,000 a year to $189,000. compare that to the median nfl player's salary, $770,000 a year. it's important to remember the average nfl playing career is only three and a half years. and most of the refs have other careers. so these aren't full-time jobs for them. the nfl wants to make the refs full-time and to add more refs so the average referee would make less money. the league also wants to move them from a pension systeto a 401(k). but in the context of a business that brings in $9.5 billion a year,

from packers offensive guard t.j. lang, got f'd by the refs, embarrassing. thanks, nfl.spute is settled soon. the baltimore ravens were given a one-point lead over the new england patriots and a series of rules that have been botched are driving fans and players crazy. all this because of the labor dispute between the nfl and the regular referees that began when the referees were locked out in june. the referees want more money asking for increasing their salaries from $149,000 to $189,000. compare that to the median nfl player's salary, $770,000 a year. it's important to remember the average nfl playing career is only three-and-a-half years. so these are not full-time jobs for them. the nfl wants to make the refs full-time. the legal also wants to move them from a pension system to a 401(k). but this the context of a business that brings in $9.5 billion a year, it seems relatively solvable. an nfl referee for 25 years who worked two super bowls told me he doesn't blame the replacement refs who have been pulled from small colleges, high schools and lower-level pro league

i think a player like t.j. langed because he also unleashed a stream of profanity directed at the nfl, roger goodell and the owners, they might be able to go behind that but as far as the basic free speech stuff that's been going on, i think the nfl even though in normal times they might fine or discipline players for this, they won't in this case because i think that there's a shame factor that they've proven this week they can't get beyond. >> isn't there also a larger contigous context. the league has tried to, in the last couple of years elevate its concern publicly for player safety and the concussion issue is looming out there. but with -- you have players taking notes and describing it as deadwood or i've heard players describe it as oz or completely uncontrolled out there. issues of this safety and player safety would i think, be placed in a different context. the nfl, i think, over time, realized they were walking themselves into another environment possibly where their litigation problems down the road wou

t.j. lang, one of many players celebrating the on twitter. good to see regular refs coming back. i'm sure the scabs disappointed they have to return to their jobs at foot locker. ouch. retired oj anderson said everyone cool now? this may not be last you will see of some replacement refs. they tell me some could be part of a training and development program and could call games in the future. jenna: you're nicer on twitter than some of the fans. we'll see what they do tonight. see if they make the right calls. >> reporter: wait for the standing ovation and boo birds come out when the first flag is called. jenna: rick, thank you. >> reporter: sure. jon: we're awaiting dueling speeches today from republican presidential nominee mitt romney and president obama. both candidates campaigning across the battleground state of virginia. governor romney in springfield, mr. obama in virginia beach. it is the third time in a week they are both hitting the same stage. shane deapril is the editor of campaigns and elections magazine. democrats are pretty confident about virginia this time. shoul

one of the guys on the packers team, t.j. lang, on vbviously ut over this call on monday.iscussed ways to strike, even by taking a knee during every play, meaning they wouldn't play in the upcoming games if these replacement referees aren't removed. as director of the players association, demorris,is that acceptable? >> well, look, i'm not sure it is ever a good idea to punish the fans and take the game away from them because the league has made a mistake about how to keep our players the most safe. so what we focus on is a group of players and family men, brothers, husbands, fathers, we focus on what steps do we need to take in order to make sure that the workplace is as safe as possible. >> you would agree that -- hang on you would agree if the packers take a knee that would rob the fans of the game of football. >> well, i think that, look, anytime anything happens to take away from a fan's enjoyment, anytime that the league does something to jeopardize our players, all those things are things that are not good. what we focus on as a group of men and a group of family me

t.j. langential plan. >> there was talk is there anything we can do go on strike or not play games, go out and have an agreement to snap the ball and take a knee. >> reporter: the head of the nfl's player association doesn't think it's in the players or the fans interests to do that. no immediate response from the nfl itself. former washington redskins tight end now a host for d.c. radio station espn 980 says a players protest could backfire. >> i think you got to let it go or it's going to carry over into the next week. it's unfortunate what happened to green bay, but it happened. and it's over. and you can't reverse it. >> but there's no question the nfl has gotten to a point of a public relations nightmare with the replacement refs that few if any anticipated and overriding concern now the safety of the players. some believe outright chaos has broken out on the field, cheap shots, coaches trying to intimidate the replacement refs. walker also walks the sidelines. >> they have lost control of