Here's a different perspective, in case any of you give a crap:
I am a small college FB official. This was my first year in college after 6 years of HS. The jump from HS to college was incredible. My first game, the entire first quarter was a blur. Remembering my assignments, the proper signals and communicating was one thing that I got much better at throughout the season.
What you never get used to is the unexpected actions of the people involved. And the higher the level, the faster and more surprising they are. No matter how many games you watch on film, no matter how many special situations and odd scenarios you think through in tests and meetings, you will still be caught of guard at least once every game.
Situations like when a kick returner decides to kick the bouncing kickoff out of bounds; or when a DB randomly runs up to hit a WR on the backside of the play; or when your TE is covered up by the WR and then runs a route into the backfield and catches a pass; or when two players on the punt return team are wearing the same number; or when the QB runs 20 yards downfield and takes his helmet off to yell an official after he threw an INT. These are all situations that stunned me this year even though I've been doing it for 7 years, spent tons of time in the rulebook and in meetings watching film and discussing situations with other officials. Only one of them did I get it right this year. Out of 10 HS and 9 college games this year, I probably only missed 7-8 fouls that should have been called and called 2-3 that shouldn't have been. I did nothing to thoroughly embarrass myself, but I was just lucky. There were a lot of plays when I failed to watch the right player or didn't get into the right position to the see the play or simply had a mental lapse that didn't lead to anything. Probably happens 5 times/game at least.
The amount of focus required to officiate is insane. I do HS basketball and it is even more difficult due to the sheer volume of activity, but you also get more of a pass in basketball. In football, a bad call or no call can stick with you for the entire season. It can cost you any chance at working a playoff game and even get you fired. But to concentrate on your job every single play without fail is a tall order for anyone. The key to being really good is to 1) be in the right spot looking at the right thing on every play 2) knowing what to look for 3) knowing when to hold off on penalties that are technically there and 4) communicating with everyone else. Doing all of that on every play is crazy difficult when you never know exactly what the players will do on a given play. Throw in a coach yelling in your ear and it can get overwhelming real quick.
And yes, there is accountability and discipline. Not just due to public pressure, either. Once you reach the D2 level of football and above, every single play is critiqued by an evaluator. And those critiques are all added up to get your grade for the year. And that grade determines your ability to work post-season games and even get invited back the following year. If a call is egregious enough or awful enough, those firings and suspensions can, and do, happen. Coaches can submit complaints and film to the evaluators and coordinators if they are really upset about something and sometimes it gets results. The pressure on officials is very intense and the higher up you go, the greater the pressure. Officials defend each other, because they have to. Coaches, fans and players are all critics despite pretty much none of them ever even attempting to do the job.
So I get you can disagree with some calls. But the guys at the NFL level are incredible at this. They aren't getting worse, but there are two factors that contribute to that belief. One is that the level of analysis and review for the spectators has risen extensively with the improvements in technology and you can just see more as a fan now than ever before. The second is that the rules are more complex and subject to more interpretation and judgement than ever before. With more weight placed on the officials and more scrutiny of their decisions, no wonder people think they are getting worse.
Sure there is room for improvement and sure there are some officials that maybe aren't good enough be working the games they are working, but the profession as a whole isn't some black eye on the league. It is like any other profession in the world and the only thing I ask is that you treat it like that and not as if these people are superhumans. A lot of times, they are better at their jobs than the teams and coaches they officiate, but no one cheers them when they do a good job, just boo them when they did a bad job and even sometimes when they were 100% correct, but the people thought they did a bad job.
For me personally, this is the hardest thing; when you know for certain that you got a call right, but the players, coaches and fans are all yelling at you and treating you like you are an idiot. It is really difficult to just take it when people are just being jerks and they're the ones who are wrong. Officiating is tough enough as it is, to add jerkoffs just yelling to yell and there is no wonder there is an officiating shortage at the HS and youth sports level.
are the loudest and stand out the most for their actions. I can't imagine what it's like to have to incur that wrath on a weekly basis over a game. I've always liked the expression, "sports don't build character, they reveal it." 
