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NFL hires 24 full-time officials in second year of the program

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Julian Mapp, a full-time NFL official in 2018 (Kansas City Chiefs)

The NFL has hired 24 officials as full-time NFL employees for the 2018 season. Last year there were 21 full-timers.

Some full-time officials from last year are not full-time officials this year.

Up until 2017, all NFL officials were designated at part-time employees and worked full-time jobs outside of football (see table below). There has been a drumbeat, mostly from fans and media, to make NFL officials full-time. During the contentious 2012 labor dispute, the NFL put forth a concrete proposal to make some of the officials full-time and it finally came to fruition last year.

If an official is designated as full-time, they can still work outside jobs, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their NFL duties. Walt Anderson had to leave his position as supervisor of officials in the Big 12 because the college conference wanted the position to monitor games on Saturday. Anderson had to make a choice between being an NFL official and a college supervisor — and he chose the pros.

In a news release, Scott Green, executive director of the NFLRA, commented, “We are supportive of providing our members the opportunity to voluntarily commit additional time for additional compensation to NFL officiating, especially in the off-season. This program is the result of extensive discussion and planning, and the NFLRA looks forward to continuing and supporting the program in its second year.”

Football Zebras has learned that the full time officials are most used in the off season addressing rules concerns and mechanics specific to their position. Being a full-time official does not appear to give the official a “favorite” status with the NFL. Also, if one no longer is full-time, it does not mean the official did a bad job off the field or on the field. The officials who were full-time in 2017 but not in 2018 remain on the roster and, presumably, are earning income outside of football or have retired from their “day jobs.”

We are still a long way from having all officials full-time employees. Note none of the first or second-year officials are full-timers.

Here is the list of full-time NFL officials.  *-New to full-time program in 2018-19.

         Yrs 2018 crew College Occupation
R 122 Brad Allen 5    Pembroke State non-profit CEO
R 66 Walt Anderson 23    Texas former college officiating coordinator, retired dentist
R 23 Jerome Boger 15    Morehouse College retired commercial insurance underwriter
R 135 Pete Morelli 22    St. Mary’s retired high school principal
R 132 John Parry* 19    Purdue financial advisor
U 11 Fred Bryan* 10 Martin Northern Iowa superintendent, juvenile correctional facility
U 81 Roy Ellison* 16 Hochuli Savannah State technical staff member
U 115 Tony Michalek* 17 Hussey Indiana communications specialist
U 124 Carl Paganelli* 19 Anderson Michigan State retired federal probation officer
DJ 134 Ed Camp 19 Hochuli William Paterson physical education teacher
LJ 59 Rusty Baynes 9 Boger Auburn-Montgomery general manager, safety services
LJ 32 Jeff Bergman* 27 Kemp Robert Morris president and chief executive officer, medical services
LJ 10 Julian Mapp 10 Parry Grambling State project leader
LJ 9 Mark Perlman 18 Vinovich Salem teacher
LJ 84 Mark Steinkerchner 25 Torbert Akron vice president
FJ 97 Tom Hill 20 Hochuli Carson Newman teacher
SJ 41 Boris Cheek 23 Morelli Morgan State director of operations and management
SJ 88 Brad Freeman* 5 Martin Mississippi State sports park director
SJ 120 Jonah Monroe 4 Boger Arkansas engineer
SJ 1 Scott Novak* 5 Allen Phoenix sales manager
BJ 133 Steve Freeman 18 Kemp Mississippi State custom home builder
BJ 78 Greg Meyer* 17 Cheffers Texas Christian banker
BJ 111 Terrence Miles 11 Allen Arizona State quality control manager
BJ 12 Greg Steed 16 Hussey Howard computer systems analyst

Front Picture: Full-time NFL officials Walt Anderson (New Orleans Saints)

Mark Schultz is a high school football official, freelance writer and journalist. He first became interested in officiating when he was six years old, was watching a NFL game with his father and asked the fateful question, "Dad, what are those guys in the striped shirts doing?"

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