Two officials will end their career at today's Pro Bowl in Orlando. While Pro Bowl retirement games meant more when played in Hawaii, it will still be a special moment in Orlando this evening as umpire Jeff Rice and down judge Mike Spanier will work their final game. Mike Spanier Mike Spanier
Tag: official retirement
New union contract contains a retirement incentive for veterans
According to an ESPN report, the NFL will offer a retirement incentive to 22-officials with 20 or more years of experience, provided they retire before the start of the 2020 season. While we don't expect every official to take the retirement incentive, the upcoming offseason could see the biggest exodus of
How the NFL grooms an official for the referee position
SEC referee Matt Austin leaves the field for the TV studio
According to a news release, long-time Southeastern Conference referee Matt Austin has retired from active officiating and will join ESPN and the SEC Network as an officiating expert. This is a newly created role by ESPN and the SEC. Austin will contribute to weekly games and studio shows from the SEC
John Parry, Super Bowl LIII referee, retires
Second straight year for Super Bowl referee to retire John Parry, a three-time Super Bowl official and referee for Super Bowl LIII, has retired. Update: Parry has joined ESPN as the Monday Night Football rules analyst. http://www.footballzebras.com/2019/04/john-parry-to-become-new-espn-rules-analyst/ This marks seven referee retirements in the last two seasons. Walt Coleman and Pete Morelli retired
Week 17 equals the end of a career for some NFL officials
After unprecedented referee turnover, 4 officials will try out to get the next promotion
The NFL is giving four of its officials the chance to audition to be future referees, or white hats. Since there are so few opportunities for the NFL to see how prospective referees would handle the new position, these preseason tryouts are very important. The NFL will assign the four officials to one
NFL takes a hit after four referee retirements
Embed from Getty Images Every generation of NFL officiating gives way to the next. This past offseason, we saw, very quickly and dramatically, one generation give way to the next. Referees Ed Hochuli, Gene Steratore, Terry McAulay and Jeff Triplette represent 88-years of experience at the referee position. That is 88-years
NFL has several options for Steratore’s replacement
Gene Steratore to retire after 15 seasons, joining CBS
Embed from Getty Images Referee Gene Steratore, a veteran NFL official who served for 15 seasons, and just worked Super Bowl LII, will be retiring from the league, according to senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron. Sources have confirmed that Steratore will become a rules analyst for CBS Sports, a