Posted in: ABC, NFL, Sports, TV | Tagged: Monday Night Football, The Rookie

The Rookie "Ref" Melissa O'Neil Isn't Afraid to Throw Some Flags

With ABC and ESPN's Monday Night Football returning tonight, The Rookie star Melissa O'Neil showed off her on-set refereeing skills.

Earlier today, ABC and showrunner Alexi Hawley's The Rookie stars Eric Winter and Deric Augustine offered their thoughts on tonight's opener for ABC and ESPN's Monday Night Football: the Denver Broncos taking on the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, we've got Melissa O'Neil getting into the spirit of things as "The Rookie Ref," throwing flags for such "violations" as filming TikTok videos while at work and forgetting which show you're currently filming.

Here's a look at the two clips that was released earlier today, with ABC's The Rookie Season 9 kicking off in 2027:

@abcnetwork

Well, someone needs to be the ref on #TheRookie set. Monday Night Football returns tonight at 8:15/7:15c on ABC and ESPN.

♬ original sound – ABC

@abcnetwork

#TheRookie cast is on the case…of which team to root for during tonight's Chiefs vs. Broncos game starting at 8:15/7:15c on ABC and ESPN.

♬ original sound – ABC – ABC

The Rookie Season 9: Hawley on Tim & Lucy's Future, Miles Graduating

The good news? After a whole lot of racing around to keep her from finding out early, Tim (Eric Winter) finally got a chance to pop the question to Lucy (Melissa O'Neil) – and she said yes! Of course, with this being a season finale, the happy couple had about 10 seconds to celebrate before big bad Everett (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) executed his revenge plan from prison by having them abducted. During a post-season finale interview with Deadline Hollywood, Hawley addressed the big cliffhangers and what they mean for the upcoming season. But first, some great news for fans of Deric Augustine's Miles: the rookie will no longer be a rookie heading into the ninth season, with Hawley confirming he will graduate: "Going into Season 9, he won't be a rookie anymore." Here are some highlights from Hawley's interview, along with new images from the Season 8 finale:

Season 9 Will Kick Off Focusing on Tim & Lucy's Abduction: Regarding the ninth season, and Tim and Lucy's abduction, Hawley is looking to start the season with the team trying to "figure out where they are, and figure out how to get them back, and whatever obstacles we can put in their way on that." The showrunner added that viewers shouldn't expect Tim and Lucy "to sit idly by and wait to be rescued."

Hawley on Everett Kidnapping Lucy Along with Tim: "Well, she's obviously the person that Tim cares about most, and this is about punishing him for not accepting the bribe and ultimately turning on Everett, or betraying Everett in his own weird mind. I think it's more about inflicting maximum punishment, so taking them both felt like that," Hawley shared. The bribe that Hawley is referencing goes back to Everett's earlier efforts to get Tim to take a $10 million bribe this season, only to be denied.

"There's a moment in the boat after they grabbed him where he's looking up at Tim, and Lucy's putting zip ties on him. So he knew it was Tim," Hawley continued. "In my mind, the abduction is a backup plan that was put in place in case he didn't get away, that was his reaching out, quote unquote, from the grave, so to speak. They were waiting a little bit; when he got rearrested, that got triggered."

Hawley on Why Now Was the Right Time for Tim to Propose to Lucy: "They had some happiness, I think, this season there was plenty of happiness. They were cute, we did a bunch of romcom stuff with them, how fast they're unpacking boxes and all that kind of stuff. At the end, it just felt super dramatic. I love the moment of the proposal, I feel like it's really special. I was surprised how emotional I got just watching the directors cut of it, but then I wanted to do something dramatic."

Hawley on Wedding Plans for Tim & Lucy (Or Anyone Else ) in Season 9: "To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what it would look like. We've obviously done a lot of weddings. We're lucky enough to now, going into Season 9, have done varying versions of weddings, whether they're off-camera, whether they're interrupted by being taken by La Fiera, whether they're successful, like the 100th episode with Nolan and Bailey, we've done a lot of them. So I'm always trying to figure out a fresh way in to stuff, and I don't have it yet. I think what's safe to say is that it needs to be satisfying. What that means? I don't know yet. I would never just shortchange it but I don't know. We got to figure it out."

Hawley on If Tim & Lucy's Proposal and Abduction Were Always the Season 8 Finale Plans: "We always were planning to shoot the abduction. There was a very, very small part of the back of my brain that's like, I can always just go out on the proposal, that version was available. I think as we got closer to editing it and finishing it up, it felt like I didn't need to even put that together. But I've been burned before, let's put it that way. So, yeah, I'm not gonna lie, there was a part of me that goes, that would be a satisfying ending if we had to go out that way."

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