NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell apologized to fans on Thursday for having to use replacement officials during the first three weeks of NFL games.

The league locked out officials in June after they could not reach a new agreement. Replacements were used in the preseason and in regular season games and made some controversial and questionable calls, most notably on Monday Night Football this past week.

According to the Associated Press, Goodell made comments during a conference call on Thursday a day after reaching a tentative deal with the union to bring back the referees. Officials will make their season debut on Thursday night in the Ravens-Browns game and will work games on Sunday.

"Obviously when you go through something like this, it's painful for everybody," Goodell said on a conference call, according to the Associated Press. "Most importantly, it's painful for fans. We're sorry to have to put fans through that."

The agreement between the league and the union came only two days after the referees mismanaged the end of the Seahawks-Packers game that resulted in a controversial 14-12 victory for Seattle.

Trailing 12-7 with time for one last play, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson tossed a desperation pass to the back left corner of the end zone into a group of five Green Bay Packers and two receivers, including Golden Tate.

Tate shoved cornerback Sam Shields out of the way as Green Bay's M.D. Jennings went up for the ball and appeared to catch it, and then stuck his arm at the ball in desperation as the two came down in the end zone. The two wrestled on the ground before the referees, players and coaches converged in the end zone, waiting for a ruling.

The replacement referees called it a touchdown, claiming Tate had possession, but replays clearly showed that Jennings cradled the ball and all Tate had on it was one arm by the time he came down.

The next day the NFL released a statement backing the call and defending the officials.

"This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference," the statement said, "which would have ended the game."

The Monday debacle was the most glaring error by officials, but not the only one. For the first three weeks teams had to deal with incorrect penalty calls, wrong spots of the ball, a misunderstanding of certain rules and an inability of officials to control players or games.

Coaches were affected by the lockout as well. Numerous coaches had incidents with officials and many were fined for their actions. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined $50,000 for grabbing an official at the end of a game, while Redskins offense coordinator Kyle Shanahan was fined $25,000 for yelling at officials. Broncos coached John Fox and Jack del Rio was also fined.

Goodell added: "Sometimes you have to go through something like that in the short term for the right agreement for the long term."

The players union and its members were thrilled to have the officials back and made their opinions known on social media and Twitter.

Said Minnesota punter Chris Kluwe: "It was a noble experiment, but I think ultimately a failed experiment, from what we've seen. It'll be good not to have to worry about that when we're on the field. It's good that it won't be a distraction anymore."

"Never thought I would be excited for the refs to come back to work but it's about time it was definitely necessary!" Cleveland return specialist Josh Cribbs tweeted Thursday morning.

The players union released a statement, saying:

"Our workplace is safer with the return of our professional referees. We welcome our fellow union members back on our field."

The deal for officials will be voted on and ratified Friday in Dallas by all 121 union members.

"As you know, this has to be ratified and we know very little about it, but we're excited to be back. And ready," referee Ed Hochuli told The Associated Press by telephone. "And I think that's the most important message -- that we're ready."

The sides came to an agreement on salary increases for the officials, from an average of $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013, rising to $205,000 by 2019 and also worked out issues regarding retirement and pension plans.

The NFL can also start working on hiring and training a group of full-time officials. The agreement ends the lockout after 48 regular-season games of replacement referees.

"We are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's games," NFL Referees Association President Scott Green said.

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