Boger, Allen, Wrolstad, Kemp, Smith, and Martin are Wild Card referees

Football Zebras has confirmed the officiating crews for the Wild Card Playoffs. This is the second year of the expanded playoff system that now features six Wild Card Playoff games.

In 2020, the NFL moved to five alternates for the early postseason rounds, which will continue this season. 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. Officials who have alternate assignments are still eligible for an on-field assignment in the Divisional Playoffs.

All times are Eastern. 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).

Scheduled assignments are subject to change.

Saturday, Jan. 15

AFC Wild Card: Raiders at Bengals, 4:30 p.m. NBC Peacock

Jerome Boger is the referee, who is in his 18th season and 16th as referee. This is Boger’s 7th postseason assignment, including 2 Wild Card Playoffs, 4 Divisional Playoffs and Super Bowl XLVII.

			Yrs	2021 crew	College	Occupation
R	23	Jerome Boger	18		Morehouse College	retired commercial insurance underwriter
U	20	Barry Anderson	15	Boger	North Carolina State	builder/developer
DJ	44	Frank LeBlanc	2	Boger	Lamar Institute of Technology	neighborhood services manager
LJ	84	Mark Steinkerchner	28	Torbert	Akron	vice president
FJ	57	Joe Blubaugh	2	Vinovich	Pittsburg State	regional sales manager
SJ	118	David Meslow	11	Novak	Augsburg College	sales executive
BJ	96	Matt Edwards	4	Cheffers	Western Michigan	healthcare sales
RO		Tyler Cerimeli	4	Hochuli	Arizona State	high school officials coordinator
RA		Mark Bitar	2	Hochuli	Seton Hall	teacher
ALT	R	John Hussey	20		Idaho State	sales representative
ALT	U	Alan Eck	6	Hussey	Bloomsburg State	tax manager
ALT	DJ	Tom Stephan	23	Clark	Pittsburg State	retired business broker
ALT	SJ	Jeff Lamberth	20	Wrolstad	Texas A&M	attorney
ALT	BJ	Greg Yette	12	Allen	Howard	defense contractor

AFC Wild Card: Patriots at Bills, 8:15 p.m. CBS Para+

In this AFC East postseason battle, Brad Allen is the referee. He is in his 8th season after being hired directly to the referee position from the ACC in 2014. This is Allen’s 4th postseason assignment, including 3 Wild Card Playoffs and a Divisional Playoff.  

			Yrs	2021 crew	College	Occupation
R	122	Brad Allen	8		Pembroke State	non-profit CEO
U	131	Mark Pellis	8	Torbert	Allegheny	financial advisor
DJ	8	Dana McKenzie	14	Blakeman	Toledo	claims adjuster
LJ	10	Julian Mapp	13	Blakeman	Grambling State	software quality assurance tester
FJ	50	Aaron Santi	7	Rogers	Southern Oregon	middle school principal
SJ	114	Dominique Pender	2	Rogers	Howard	trade support, finance and banking
BJ	46	Perry Paganelli	24	Blakeman	Hope College	retired high school administrator
RO		Andrew Lambert	4	Cheffers	Central Virginia Community College	business development
RA		Kirt Shay	3	Cheffers	Xavier	teacher
ALT	R	Scott Novak	8		Phoenix	sales manager
ALT	U	Bruce Stritesky	16	Allen	Embry Riddle	airline pilot
ALT	DJ	Kevin Codey	7	Torbert	Western New England	middle school physical education teacher
ALT	FJ	Tom Hill	23	Hochuli	Carson Newman	retired teacher/coach
ALT	BJ	Jimmy Russell	3	Vinovich	Pasco Hernando State	insurance agent

Sunday, Jan. 16

NFC Wild Card: Eagles at Buccaneers, 1:00 p.m. FOX

Craig Wrolstad, a 19-year official and 8-year referee, will be in Tampa on Sunday. This is his 12th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 4 Divisional Playoffs, 2 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl XLVII. His Super Bowl assignment was as a field judge.

			Yrs	2021 crew	College	Occupation
R	4	Craig Wrolstad	19		Washington	athletic director
U	81	Roy Ellison	19	Hill	Savannah State	IT engineer
DJ	13	Patrick Turner	8	Corrente	Cal State-Long Beach	plant manager
LJ	85	Daniel Gallagher	2	Allen	Kent State	athletic programs manager
FJ	80	Greg Gautreaux	19	(swing)	SW Louisiana	accounting
SJ	125	Chad Hill	4	Hochuli	Mississippi	medical sales
BJ	88	Brad Freeman	8	Hussey	Mississippi State	sports park director
RO		Kevin Stine	4	Wrolstad	Alabama-Birmingham	regional sales manager
RA		Gavin Anderson	3	Wrolstad	Green River	police officer
ALT	R	Carl Cheffers	22		California-Irvine	sales manager
ALT	U	Tra Blake	2	Cheffers	Central Florida	software quality assurance manager
ALT	DJ	Kent Payne	18	Rogers	Nebraska Wesleyan	agribusinessman
ALT	FJ	James Coleman	17	Martin	Arkansas	electrical engineer
ALT	BJ	Terrence Miles	14	Novak	Arizona State	quality control manager

NFC Wild Card: 49ers at Cowboys, 4:30 p.m. CBS NICK Para+ Prime

Alex Kemp is the referee, who is in his 8th season and 4th as referee. This is Kemp’s 4th postseason assignment; all 4 have been Wild Card Playoff games.

			Yrs	2021 crew	College	Occupation
R	55	Alex Kemp	8		Central Michigan	insurance agent
U	128	Ramon George	6	Novak	Lenoir-Rhyne	financial underwriter
DJ	48	Jim Mello	18	Wrolstad	Northeastern	facilities manager
LJ	75	Mark Stewart	4	Hill	Pittsburg State	rancher
FJ	42	Nate Jones	3	Cheffers	Rutgers	firefighter/EMT
SJ	107	Dave Hawkshaw	3	Smith	Justice Institute of British Columbia	firefighter
BJ	27	Grantis Bell	2	Wrolstad	West Virginia	school counselor
RO		Mike Chase	5	Kemp	Arizona State	senior portfolio manager
RA		Durwood Manley	3	Kemp	Lubbock Christian	sales territory manager
ALT	R	Land Clark	4		Sevier Valley Tech	chief building official
ALT	U	Terry Killens	3	Hochuli	Penn State	campus security specialist
ALT	LJ	Mike Dolce	2	Smith	Grand Valley State	wealth management advisor
ALT	FJ	Michael Banks	20	Clark	Illinois State	carpenter foreman
ALT	BJ	Greg Wilson	14	Martin	USC	retired police officer

AFC Wild Card: Steelers at Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. NBC Peacock

Shawn Smith will be the referee in Kansas City. He is in his 7th season and 4th as referee. This is Smith’s 6th postseason assignment, including 4 Wild Card Playoffs, a Divisional Playoff, and a Conference Championship.

			Yrs	2021 crew	College	Occupation
R	14	Shawn Smith	7		Ferris State	finance
U	110	Tab Slaughter	2	Blakeman	Arkansas State	chief operating officer
DJ	106	Patrick Holt	3	Vinovich	North Carolina State	IT manager
LJ	47	Tim Podraza	14	Corrente	Nebraska	business performance consultant
FJ	117	John Jenkins	8	Kemp	St. Mary’s	sales executive
SJ	86	Jimmy Buchanan	13	Vinovich	South Carolina State	food service director
BJ	39	Rich Martinez	8	Hochuli	Canisius	sales manager
RO		Kevin Brown	3	Rogers	Purdue	retired air traffic controller
RA		Bob Hubbell	2	Rogers	Texas A&M	steel sales
ALT	R	Brad Rogers	5		Lubbock Christian	college professor
ALT	U	Tony Michalek	20	Vinovich	Indiana	chief executive officer
ALT	LJ	Jeff Seeman	20	Cheffers	Minnesota	brokerage sales
ALT	SJ	Allen Baynes	14	Hussey	Auburn	realtor
ALT	BJ	Steve Patrick	8	Boger	Jacksonville State	owner, supply company

Monday, Jan. 17

NFC Wild Card: Cardinals at Rams, 8:15 p.m. ABC ESPN ESPN2 ESPN+

The referee for this NFC West playoff clash is Clay Martin, who is in his 7th season as an NFL official and 4th as referee. This is Martin’s 3rd postseason assignment, including 2 Wild Card Playoffs and a Divisional Playoff.

			Yrs	2021 crew	College	Occupation
R	19	Clay Martin	7		Oklahoma Baptist	high school administrator
U	124	Carl Paganelli	22	Rogers	Michigan State	retired federal probation officer
DJ	113	Danny Short	5	Allen	North Carolina-Charlotte	executive director, global sales operations
LJ	40	Brian Bolinger	5	Clark	Indiana State	corporate safety director
FJ	26	Jabir Walker	7	Hussey	Murray State	middle school teacher
SJ	104	Dale Shaw	9	Kemp	Allegheny	pharmaceutical sales
BJ	67	Tony Josselyn	4	Torbert	Eastern Kentucky	probation officer
RO		Brian Matoren	17	Martin	Florida	writer/producer
RA		Randy Campbell	2	Martin	Kansas State	oil and gas
ALT	R	Adrian Hill	12		Buffalo	aerospace software engineer
ALT	U	Steve Woods	5	Wrolstad	Wabash	financial advisor
ALT	LJ	Tom Eaton	2	Rogers	Central Florida	fiscal manager
ALT	FJ	Dyrol Prioleau	15	Smith	Johnson C Smith	manager, law firm
ALT	BJ	Greg Meyer	20	Clark	Texas Christian	banker