Football Zebras has confirmed the referees for the Divisional Playoffs. 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.
This year, the NFL has moved to five alternates for the early postseason rounds, up one from previous years. The alternate officials are a referee, an umpire, a line of scrimmage official (down judge or line judge), a deep wing official (field judge or side judge), and a back judge.
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). Also of note, the eventual Super Bowl officials are on the field for this weekend’s games, but not all are from the same crew.
We saw alternates take the field in the Wild Card Playoff round, so as always, scheduled assignments are subject to change due to the pandemic.
Saturday, Jan. 16
NFC Divisional: Rams at Packers, 4:35 p.m. Fox
Ron Torbert is the referee, who is in his 11th season and 7th as referee. This is Torbert’s 8th postseason assignment, including 3 Wild Card Playoffs and 5 Divisional Playoffs.
| Yrs | 2020 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 62 | Ron Torbert | 11 | Michigan State | attorney | |
| U | 131 | Mark Pellis | 7 | Torbert | Allegheny | financial advisor |
| DJ | 37 | Tripp Sutter | 2 | Clark | Nebraska | biopharmaceutical rep |
| LJ | 59 | Rusty Baynes | 11 | Boger | Auburn-Montgomery | general manager, safety services |
| FJ | 95 | James Coleman | 16 | Torbert | Arkansas | electrical engineer |
| SJ | 120 | Jonah Monroe | 6 | Torbert | Arkansas | engineer |
| BJ | 38 | Greg Yette | 11 | Torbert | Howard | defense contractor |
- Replay official: Saleem Choudhry
- Replay assistant: Dexter McNabb
- Alternates:
- Referee: Scott Novak
- Umpire: Bryan Neale
- Line of scrimmage: Danny Short (DJ)
- Deep wing: Terry Brown (FJ)
- Back judge: Tony Josselyn
AFC Divisional: Ravens at Bills, 8:15 p.m. NBC
Carl Cheffers is the referee, who is in his 21st season and 13th as referee. This is Cheffers’ 14th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 6 Divisional Playoffs, 2 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl LI.
| Yrs | 2020 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 51 | Carl Cheffers | 21 | California-Irvine | sales manager | |
| U | 11 | Fred Bryan | 12 | Blakeman | Northern Iowa | superintendent, juvenile correctional facility |
| DJ | 134 | Ed Camp | 21 | Hill | William Paterson | physical education teacher |
| LJ | 24 | David Oliver | 4 | Novak | Baker | information systems manager |
| FJ | 25 | Ryan Dickson | 4 | Corrente | Utah | commercial real estate developer |
| SJ | 117 | John Jenkins | 7 | Novak | St. Mary’s | sales executive |
| BJ | 78 | Greg Meyer | 19 | Rogers | Texas Christian | banker |
- Replay official: Mike Wimmer
- Replay assistant: Brian Uhrmacher
- Alternates:
- Referee: Alex Kemp
- Umpire: Paul King
- Line of scrimmage: Patrick Holt (DJ)
- Deep wing: Scott Edwards (SJ)
- Back judge: Rich Martinez
Sunday, Jan. 17
AFC Divisional: Browns at Chiefs, 3:05 p.m. CBS
Clay Martin is the referee, who is in his 6th season and 3rd as referee. This is Martin’s 2nd postseason assignment, and his first as referee. His first assignment, a Wild Card Playoff, was as an umpire.
| Yrs | 2020 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 19 | Clay Martin | 6 | Oklahoma Baptist | high school administrator | |
| U | 81 | Roy Ellison | 18 | Hussey | Savannah State | IT engineer |
| DJ | 6 | Jerod Phillips | 5 | Rogers | Northeastern State | elementary school teacher |
| LJ | 84 | Mark Steinkerchner | 27 | Smith | Akron | vice president |
| FJ | 118 | David Meslow | 10 | Vinovich | Augsburg College | sales executive |
| SJ | 56 | Allen Baynes | 13 | Hussey | Auburn | realtor |
| BJ | 12 | Greg Steed | 18 | Hill | Howard | computer systems analyst |
- Replay official: Matt Sumstine
- Replay assistant: Chris Scott
- Alternates:
- Referee: John Hussey
- Umpire: Dan Ferrell
- Line of scrimmage: Mark Perlman (LJ)
- Deep wing: Boris Cheek (SJ)
- Back judge: Terrence Miles
NFC Divisional: Buccaneers at Saints, 6:40 p.m. Fox
Shawn Hochuli is the referee, who is in his 7th season and 3nd as referee. This is Hochuli’s 5th postseason assignment, including a Wild Card Playoff and 4 Divisional Playoffs.
| Yrs | 2020 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 83 | Shawn Hochuli | 7 | Claremont | financial advisor | |
| U | 77 | Terry Killens | 2 | Martin | Penn State | campus security specialist |
| DJ | 53 | Sarah Thomas | 6 | Hochuli | Mobile | sales representative |
| LJ | 68 | Tom Stephan | 22 | Blakeman | Pittsburg State | retired business broker |
| FJ | 50 | Aaron Santi | 6 | Wrolstad | Southern Oregon | middle school principal |
| SJ | 103 | Eugene Hall | 7 | Rogers | North Texas | federal agent |
| BJ | 105 | Dino Paganelli | 15 | Smith | Aquinas College | educator |
- Replay official: Roddy Ames
- Replay assistant: Alton James
- Alternates:
- Referee: Jerome Boger
- Umpire: Bruce Stritesky
- Line of scrimmage: Mark Stewart (LJ)
- Deep wing: Rick Patterson (FJ)
- Back judge: Greg Wilson
Seeing these assignments makes me think that the Conference Championship officials will NOT come from the Wild Card round this year.
I would be shocked if Tony Corrente, Clete Blakeman and Bill Vinovich all get shut out of an on-field playoff assignment this year.
Seeing these assignments makes me think that Conference Championship officials will NOT be coming from the Wild Card round this year…
I would be shocked if Tony Corrente, Clete Blakeman and Bill Vinovich all missed out on an on-field playoff assignment.
I agree with you reppertlv. Tony Corrente and Bill Vinovich are the two best referees in the game. Based on these assignments, Tobert or Cheffers will work the super bowl. I am a little concerned that the league loves Shawn Hochuli so much. Not that he is a bad referee—he is not—but he does like to hear himself talk on the mic a little too much in my opinion. I think Tobert is SB favorite, but Carl Cheffers runs a smooth game and could be picked as well. I think CC game will be Corrente, Vinovich (both were alternates in WC Round) with Corrente working the closest to west coast game meaning KC in all likelihood. Vinovich to the GB/NO site or possibly Tampa, and then Torbert in Super Bowl. Good to see Clay Martin healthy and working a game again.
Will Blakeman work a Championship game?
I think that the conference Championship will be Corrente and Blakeman and the Suoerbowl referee might be Cheffers or torbert
Torbert is getting the Super Bowl. Sarah Thomas will also be on the Super Bowl crew.
Torbert will be the Super Bowl referee. Sarah Thomas will also get a Super Bowl assignment.
According to the unwritten rules:
1) the Super Bowl white hat works a divisional game
AND
2) the Super Bowl white has must have previously worked a conference championship game
Therefore Cheffers is the only one that meets that criteria, even though he recently worked SB LI – four years ago
OR
These rules mean nothing and they pick who they want to pick.
Given these, if I had to assemble a Super Bowl LV crew guess, it would be:
Ron Torbert, Roy Ellison, Ed Camp, Mark Steinkerchner, James Coleman, Eugene Hall and Dino Paganelli
How do u know Torbert is Superbowl Ref?
My Superbowl prediction is R Carl Cheffers,U Roy Ellison,DJ Jerod Phillips,LJ Rusty Baynes,FJ Aaron Santi SJ Eugene Hall BJ Dino paganeli or R Ron Torbert,U Roy Ellison,DJ Sarah Thomas,LJ Tom Stephan,FJ James Coleman,SJ Eugene Hall,BJ Dino paganelli
Where is Clete Blakeman?
Where do you put Tom Hill.
I wonder if Vinovich is getting a Conference game. He was last years SB referee.
i agree-Torbert in Super Bowl
Cheffers getting Superbowl
Torbert is getting the super bowl and Thomas will be on the crew for PR reasons
Ron torbert is one of the best officials in the nfl. It is wrong to claim he is being pushed for PR reasons.
Sarah on the other hand has ascended to the level of adequate.
The white hat should be Torbert or Hochuli. The two best in the game.
Hochuli also deserves a honorable mention as a candidate to work superbowl 55
I didn’t mean he didn’t deserve it. What I meant is that if all things are equal between he and other, he will get it for that reason. I’m not sure Hochuli has enough experience to qualify. Vinovich would always be my choice, but given that he did last year, I’m sure he’s not a candidate
The only two “tokens†I can think of offhand are Jerome Boger and Sarah Thomas. I wouldn’t want either on my high school crew.
I see Ron Torbert being mentioned a lot. He is absolutely one of the best referees going today. He’s right up there with Blakeman and Vinovich.
Torbert is a good ref and he will def get it for PR. Thomas will get it for PR, but she is not good.