Torbert, Allen, Wrolstad, and Hochuli are Wild Card referees

Football Zebras has confirmed the referees for the Wild Card weekend. Officials are listed with their uniform number, years of NFL experience (including this season), the crew each official worked with in the regular season (by the referee’s name), college, and outside occupation.

All times are Eastern.

Three alternates are assigned to each game: generally, one is designated for the offensive backfield (a referee or umpire), one is on the line of scrimmage (head linesman or line judge), and one is a deep position (side judge, field judge, or back judge). When alternates are listed, their position during the regular season is also given. The prior playoff experience that is listed for the crew chief includes his service as an NFL official, including as referee and any other crew position (excluding alternate assignments).

Interestingly, the Wild Card weekend features a referee getting his first postseason assignment and concludes with the referee who has the most postseason games of any active referee with 25.

Saturday, Jan. 7

AFC Wild Card: Raiders at Texans, 4:30 p.m. ESPN ABC

Ron Torbert is the referee for the Raiders-Texans game, and is in his 7th season and 3rd as referee. This is his 5th postseason assignment, including 3 Wild Card Playoffs and 2 Divisional Playoffs; he has received a playoff assignment in every year he was eligible.

Â	Â	Â	Yrs	2016 crew	College	Occupation
R	62	Ron Torbert	7	Â	Michigan State	attorney
U	40	Butch Hannah	18	Anderson	Middle Tennessee State	retired federal probation officer
HL	74	Derick Bowers	14	Coleman	East Central	sales representative
LJ	68	Tom Stephan	18	McAulay	Pittsburg State	business broker
FJ	33	Steve Zimmer	20	Wrolstad	Hofstra	attorney
SJ	56	Allen Baynes	9	Hussey	Auburn	realtor
BJ	83	Shawn Hochuli	3	Allen	Claremont	financial advisor

• Replay: Billy Smith
• Alternates: Fred Bryan (U), Walt Coleman IV (SJ), Greg Meyer (BJ)

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NFC Wild Card: Lions at Seahawks, 8:15 p.m. NBC

Brad Allen, who is in his 3rd season, is the referee for the Lions-Seahawks matchup. This is Allen’s first playoff assignment in his second year of eligibility. Allen was hired directly to the referee position from the NCAA in 2014. 

Â	Â	Â	Yrs	2016 crew	College	Occupation
R	122	Brad Allen	3	Â	Pembroke State	non-profit CEO
U	44	Jeff Rice	22	Coleman	Northwestern	attorney
HL	134	Ed Camp	16	Boger	William Paterson	physical education teacher
LJ	18	Byron Boston	22	Anderson	Austin	tax consultant
FJ	103	Eugene Hall	3	Boger	North Texas	federal agent
SJ	73	Joe Larrew	15	Blakeman	St Louis	attorney
BJ	46	Perry Paganelli	19	Parry	Hope College	retired high school administrator

• Replay: Jim Lapetina
• Alternates: Walt Anderson (R), Jeff Lamberth (SJ), Mike Weatherford (FJ)

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Sunday, Jan. 8

AFC Wild Card: Dolphins at Steelers, 1:05 p.m. CBS

Craig Wrolstad is the referee as the Dolphins visit the Steelers. He is in his 14th season, and this is his 3rd as referee. This is his 11th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 3 Divisional Playoffs, 2 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl XLVII. His Super Bowl assignment was as a field judge.

Â	Â	Â	Yrs	2016 crew	College	Occupation
R	4	Craig Wrolstad	14	Â	Washington	athletic director
U	31	Barry Anderson	10	Wrolstad	North Carolina State	builder/developer
HL	91	Jerry Bergman	15	McAulay	Robert Morris	sales executive
LJ	101	Carl Johnson	13	Morelli	Nicholls State	full-time official
FJ	15	Rick Patterson	21	McAulay	Wofford	banker
SJ	120	Jonah Monroe	2	McAulay	Arkansas	systems engineer
BJ	119	Greg Wilson	9	Anderson	USC	law enforcement

• Replay: Larry Nemmers
• Alternates: Jeff Triplette (R), Gary Arthur (LJ), Jabir Walker (FJ)

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NFC Wild Card: Giants at Packers, 4:40 p.m. Fox

Ed Hochuli is the referee for the Giants-Packers game. Hochuli is in his 26th season and 24th as referee. This is Hochuli’s 25th postseason assignment, the most of any active official, which include 10 Wild Card Playoffs, 5 Divisional Playoffs, 8 Conference Championships, and Super Bowls XXXII and XXXVIII.

Hochuli and his crew worked a Sunday night game between the Giants and Packers in week 5 at Lambeau Field.

Â	Â	Â	Yrs	2016 crew	College	Occupation
R	85	Ed Hochuli	27	Â	Texas-El Paso	attorney
U	19	Clay Martin	2	Hochuli	Tulsa	high school basketball coach
HL	13	Patrick Turner	3	Corrente	Cal State-Long Beach	plant manager
LJ	59	Rusty Baynes	7	Hochuli	Auburn-Montgomery	general manager, safety services
FJ	86	Jimmy Buchanan	8	Hussey	South Carolina State	insurance agent
SJ	125	Laird Hayes	22	Anderson	Princeton	owner of football camps for high school and youth
BJ	17	Steve Patrick	3	Blakeman	Jacksonville State	owner, supply company

• Replay: Earnie Frantz
• Alternates: Bryan Neale (U), Ron Marinucci (LJ), Adrian Hill (FJ)