just a few hours before the news broke, terry mccauley, a real n.f.l. referee said in our newscast they're ready to go. >> we've been studying. we're aware of all the new rules. we've been working on tests and keeping ourselves in shape. we're ready to go at a moment's notice. we could from our perspective do it. it would be up to the league. >> reporter: so the real refs are ready to go. you know the coaches, players and the fans could not be more excited that finally a compromise has indeed been reached. keep in mind this agreement is only tentative. it's not a done deal just yet. the members of the union still need to ratify it over the weekend but not before the real refs are back on the field tonight. i think it's safe to say, andrea, the entire nation breathing a collective sigh of relief this morning. everything can go back to normal. andrea? >> so just think if seattle had lost, we'd still be talking about the strike maybe. who knows. kristin fisher live at fed ex field in landover, maryland this morning. >>> this seems to be a theme among faceb

joining me to talk about the situation, the host of nfl today cbs james brown and real referee terry mccauley. it's so great to have you both here. to your knowledge, is there a tentative deal in place and, if not, what's standing in the way? >> the last notice we got early this afternoon, there is no deal imminent at this moment. >> no deal imminent. so despite the reports from cbs, you say those are premature basically. >> correct. they are closer from what we've heard but not imminent. >> i've got to get your sense of that monday night call. what would you have called? >> i guess as an official, i can't publicly talk about other official's calls. can i go into the rule and it's -- i can go into the rule and it's pretty straightforward that the player who goes up and gets it first, if he can complete the catch coming to the ground, it's his football. >> to your mind, you can't comment on it. fans think it was so egregious and horrible we all know what we're talking about. is there a possibility they were wrong on that? >> there's always a possibility they were wrong, but i'm not going to go

referee terry mccallly on our newscast -- mccauley on our newscast talking exactly about all this cameo be. of course this agreement was helped a lot by the outcome of that monday night football game and that very controversial call. but even though these real refs have been sitting on the side lines all season, terry says they're ready to go. they've been training and practicing. take a listen what he had to say just hours before this agreement came down. >> we've been studying, we're aware of all the new rules. we've been working on tests and keeping ourselves in shape. and we're ready to go at a moment's notice. it could -- we could from our perspective do it. it would be up to the league whether they would. >> reporter: the real refs are ready to go. i'm sure the players and coaches are happy to have them back. you know the fans are. even though an agreement has indeed been reached, it's still only tentative. it's not a done deal just yet. the players union still needs -- excuse me, the referees union still needs to actually ratify that and that's going to be taking place over the