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…
In an attempt to narrow down potential assignments, Football Zebras has learned from multiple sources that last year’s Super Bowl referee, Jerome Boger, did not receive a playoff assignment this season. Also not receiving an assignment are Mike Carey and John Parry. Missing the playoffs the year following a Super Bowl assignment is not unprecedented.…
Football Zebras commentary Week 17 is upon us, meaning that the final evaluations for officials vying for playoff positions are being determined. Officials will not be informed of the Wild Card Playoff assignments until the middle of the upcoming week. The later playoff rounds will then be rolled out in the succeeding week or two.…
How NFL officials stay out of the way to preserve life and limb We’ve all seen it. For the fans it is a funny sight but for anyone who has been knocked down by a football player always cringes when a football official gets knocked down. The officials do not wear any padding and when…
We have some leftover items from Week 5, so let’s serve them up before their expiration dates pass. Bengals lost timeout Prior to a Bengals 3rd-and-goal situation, the crew stopped the clock for a game clock adjustment. When the game clock was stopped, and additional three seconds ticked off the play clock, stopping at 6.…
Officials double check with each other on tight and routine calls NFL officials each have a specific area and specific player or players to watch during each play. But do you know that officials also watch each other during a play? The glance may be a few hundredths of a second, but that glance helps…
Click the image to enlarge. It is time to kick off the new football season! Here are some numbers for all of the zebra watchers out there. Enjoy! Designed and researched by Ben Austro. Sources: NFL Record and Fact Book (2013, 2008, 2000); Pro-Football-Reference.com (Coleman, Freeman, McKinnely); Football Zebras, “Officiating crews for the 2013 season“;…
Commentary by Mark Schultz Here are the things I am pondering as I “zebra watch” this year. 1. Will some high-profile officials make a playoff comeback? Gene Steratore, Ed Hochuli, John Parry, Tom Stabile, John McGrath, Rob Vernatchi, and Walt Anderson missed out on an on-field playoff assignment in 2012. Will they make a playoff…
You may have noticed some officials wearing rock-star like microphones and ear pieces during some preseason games. The NFL has confirmed that it is having its officials experiment with wireless official-to-official communication gear during selected games this August. Vice president of football communications, Michael Signora, says, “We have consistently used the preseason to test different…
