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Carl Cheffers is confirmed as referee for Super Bowl LI

Football Zebras exclusive: Carl Cheffers is the referee for Super Bowl LI.

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Football Zebras  exclusive

Carl Cheffers  will be the referee heading the  Super Bowl LI  officiating staff on Feb. 5  in Houston. This was widely suspected, and the assignments were officially given to the crew today. This will be Cheffers’ first Super Bowl assignment.

Cheffers worked the  Divisional Playoff game between the Steelers and Chiefs, and he threw the flag for the holding call that nullified what would have been the Chiefs’ game-tying two-point conversion. Cheffers had four members of his Super Bowl crew with him in Kansas City; usually there are no more than three Super Bowl officials in the same game.

Officials in the Super Bowl must be ranked in the top tier as determined by the senior vice-president of officiating, Dean Blandino. Accuracy percentages are a large part of the ranking scheme, but Blandino indicated there are other factors he considers. Past practice has allowed officials who have not had a previous Super Bowl assignment, but are near the top rank at their positions, to receive preference.

Cheffers is in his 17th NFL season and his 9th as a referee. He  has worked 10 postseason assignments, including 4 Wild Card Playoffs, 4 Divisional Playoffs, and 2 Conference Championships.

The  crew has three officials that have worked a Super Bowl before — one in Super Bowl XLIV and two in XLV.

The Super Bowl crew is listed below, shown with the number of Wild Card Playoffs, Divisional Playoffs and Conference Championships worked in the last five seasons, and previous Super Bowl assignments:

         Yrs 2016 crew College Occupation 2011-2015 Prev. SB
R 51 Carl Cheffers 17    California-Irvine sales manager 1 DIV, 2 WC   
U 64 Dan Ferrell 14 Corrente Cal State-Fullerton director, parts logistics and supply chain management 2 CC, 1 DIV   
HL 79 Kent Payne 13 Cheffers Nebraska Wesleyan teacher 4 CC, 1 DIV XLV
LJ 45 Jeff Seeman 15 Parry Minnesota brokerage sales 1 CC,  2 DIV, 2 WC XLIV
FJ 67 Doug Rosenbaum 16 Morelli Illinois Wesleyan financial consultant 1 CC, 3 WC   XLV
SJ 109 Dyrol Prioleau 10 Triplette Johnson C Smith manager, law firm 1 CC   
BJ 30 Todd Prukop 8 Corrente Cal State-Fullerton medical sales representative 2 DIV, 2 WC   
  • Replay: Tom Sifferman
  • Alternates:
    • Referee: Walt Coleman
    • Umpire: Tony Michalek
    • Short wing: Mike Spanier
    • Deep wing: Michael Banks
    • Back judge: Greg Yette

Image: Football Zebras graphic by Chad Young, photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images Sport


From Football Zebras editor Ben Austro

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Ben Austro is the editor and founder of Football Zebras and the author of So You Think You Know Football?: The Armchair Ref's Guide to the Official Rules (on sale now)

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