No. 70 will never be worn again by an official The NFL made history this weekend at its officiating clinic in Dallas, as it announced that it will retire the number 70 jersey in honor of former NFL referee and supervisor of officials, Jerry Seeman. Seeman worked Super Bowls XXIII and XXV as a referee,…
The league announced that Mark Pellis has been hired to fill the vacancy left by the surprise retirement of Mike Carey, who left the field to become an officiating analyst for CBS Sports. He is the 13th college official hired by the NFL this offseason. Pellis comes to the NFL from the American Athletic Conference…
With 12 vacancies filled in the last few months, how will the NFL approach filling a 13th spot after the resignation of referee Mike Carey? The NFL could hire another official from college, persuade a recently retired official to come back for one more season, or they could go with 118 officials this year and…
Brad Allen is the first official in almost 50 years to be placed in the referee position in his first NFL season.
This post has been updated to reflect changes in the 2014 officiating staff after the initial announcement. The NFL has announced its 2014 roster of officials (full list below after the jump). The roster features 12 new hires. Earlier we reported that 11 officials were not going to return to the field for 2014. Field…
Veteran’s move leaves 11 vacancies for 2014 Football Zebras exclusive Football Zebras can report that umpire Garth DeFelice will leave the field and become one of the regional supervisors for the officiating office. The supervisors have traditionally been the graders that evaluate the game tapes for accuracy in the officials’ calls. This position used to…
There will be at least 10 officials who will will not return to the field in 2014. At the end of the season, five officials were confirmed to be retiring. A few weeks later, Football Zebras was first to report that Ron Winter had retired. We now know that head linesman Mark Baltz, back judge…
Two veterans replace the retired Green and Winter NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed to an Associated Press reporter yesterday that Ronald Torbert and Craig Wrolstad will be referees for the upcoming 2014 season. Torbert and Wrolstad replace retired referees Scott Green and Ron Winter. Wrolstad has been a long time field judge on Ed Hochuli’s crew…
Vital proving grounds for white hat candidates no longer exist Commentary by Mark Schultz The NFL could be having a white hat problem in the next few years. Several referees have put in 20 or more years of service, meaning that their retirement window is starting to open. There are at least four referees now…
NFL will hire from current roster Scott Green and Ron Winter have retired, opening up two slots at the referee position. The NFL has not hired a referee straight out of college and into the NFL since the 1970 merger, so the two new white hats will come from the current roster of officials. In…