Hochuli, Blakeman, Cheffers, and Vinovich are Divisional Playoff referees

Football Zebras learned the referees assigned for the Divisional Playoffs and we are working to confirm the full crews.

Five alternates are assigned to each game: 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.

All times are Eastern. Scheduled assignments are subject to change.

Saturday, Jan. 21

AFC Divisional: Jaguars at Chiefs, 4:30 p.m. NBC Peacock

Shawn Hochuli is the referee, who is in his 9th season and 5th as referee. This is Hochuli’s 7th postseason assignment, including a Wild Card Playoff and 6 Divisional Playoffs.

			Yrs	2022 crew	College	Occupation
R	83	Shawn Hochuli	9		Claremont	financial advisor
U	121	Paul King	14	Clark	Nichols College	teacher
DJ	113	Danny Short	6	Kemp	North Carolina-Charlotte	executive director, global sales operations
LJ	98	Greg Bradley	14	Hochuli	Tennessee	chemical engineer
FJ	43	Terry Brown	17	Blakeman	Tennessee	court director
SJ	125	Chad Hill	5	Hochuli	Mississippi	medical sales
BJ	78	Greg Meyer	21	Clark	Texas Christian	banker
RO		Tyler Cerimeli	5	Hochuli	Arizona State	high school officials coordinator
RA		Mark Bitar	3	Hochuli	Seton Hall	teacher
ALT	R	Brad Allen	9		Pembroke State	non-profit CEO
ALT	U	Tab Slaughter	3	Blakeman	Arkansas State	chief operating officer
ALT	DJ	Patrick Holt	4	Hochuli	North Carolina State	IT manager
ALT	FJ	Anthony Flemming	3	Hochuli	Texas A&M-Commerce	senior auditor
ALT	BJ	Tony Josselyn	5	Torbert	Eastern Kentucky	probation officer

NFC Divisional: Giants at Eagles, 8:15 p.m. Fox

Clete Blakeman is the referee, who is in his 15th season and 13th as referee. This is Blakeman’s 13th postseason assignment, including 4 Wild Card Playoffs, 5 Divisional Playoffs, 3 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl 50.

			Yrs	2022 crew	College	Occupation
R	34	Clete Blakeman	15		Nebraska	attorney
U	124	Carl Paganelli	23	Rogers	Michigan State	retired federal probation officer
DJ	6	Jerod Phillips	7	Martin	Northeastern State	elementary school teacher
LJ	65	Walt Coleman IV	8	Novak	Southern Methodist	portfolio manager
FJ	33	Nate Jones	4	Cheffers	Rutgers	firefighter/EMT
SJ	103	Eugene Hall	9	Cheffers	North Texas	federal agent
BJ	46	Perry Paganelli	25	Blakeman	Hope College	retired high school administrator
RO		Chad Adams	5	Blakeman	Cincinnati	operations
RA		Ken Hall	2	Blakeman
ALT	R	Craig Wrolstad	20		Washington	athletic director
ALT	U	Steve Woods	6	Wrolstad	Wabash	financial advisor
ALT	LJ	Jeff Seeman	21	Cheffers	Minnesota	brokerage sales
ALT	SJ	Allen Baynes	15	Hussey	Auburn	realtor
ALT	BJ	Scott Helverson	20	Kemp	Iowa	sales, printing and promotions

Sunday, Jan. 22

AFC Divisional: Bengals at Bills, 3:00 p.m. CBS PARA+

Carl Cheffers is the referee, who is in his 23rd season and 15th as referee. This is Cheffers’s 17th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 7 Divisional Playoffs, 3 Conference Championships, and Super Bowls LI and LV. Both of his Super Bowl assignments were as a referee.

			Yrs	2022 crew	College	Occupation
R	51	Carl Cheffers	23		California-Irvine	sales manager
U	81	Roy Ellison	20	Hill	Savannah State	IT engineer
DJ	24	David Oliver	6	Hill	Baker	information systems manager
LJ	32	Jeff Bergman	30	Kemp	Robert Morris	president and chief executive officer, medical services
FJ	117	John Jenkins	9	Kemp	St. Mary’s	sales executive
SJ	36	Anthony Jeffries	5	Rogers	Alabama-Birmingham	medical sales
BJ	105	Dino Paganelli	17	Smith	Aquinas College	educator
RO		Kevin Brown	4	Cheffers	Purdue	retired air traffic controller
RA		Larry Hanson	3	Allen	California-San Diego	health and safety
ALT	R	Alex Kemp	9		Central Michigan	insurance agent
ALT	U	Tony Michalek	21	Blake	Indiana	chief executive officer
ALT	LJ	Tom Eaton	3	Rogers	Central Florida	fiscal manager
ALT	FJ	Tom Hill	24	Blake	Carson Newman	retired teacher/coach
ALT	BJ	Terrence Miles	15	Novak	Arizona State	quality control manager

NFC Divisional: Cowboys at 49ers, 6:40 p.m. Fox

Bill Vinovich is the referee, who is in his 17th season and 14th as referee. This is his 17th postseason assignment, including 3 Wild Card Playoffs, 6 Divisional Playoffs, 6 Conference Championships, and Super Bowls XLIX and LIV. Both of his Super Bowl assignments were as a referee.

			Yrs	2022 crew	College	Occupation
R	52	Bill Vinovich	17		San Diego	certified public accountant
U	92	Bryan Neale	9	Smith	Indiana	sales consultant
DJ	28	Mark Hittner	26	Smith	Pittsburg State	investment broker
LJ	59	Rusty Baynes	13	Boger	Auburn-Montgomery	general manager, safety services
FJ	15	Rick Patterson	27	Allen	Wofford	banker
SJ	58	Don Willard	5	Blake	Illinois State	physical therapist
BJ	88	Brad Freeman	9	Hussey	Mississippi State	sports park director
RO		Mark Butterworth	6	Vinovich	Walsh	non-profit COO
RA	RA	Gerald Frye	3	Torbert	Gannon	veterinarian
ALT	R	Shawn Smith	8		Ferris State	finance
ALT	U	Fred Bryan	14	Martin	Northern Iowa	superintendent, juvenile correctional facility
ALT	LJ	Mark Perlman	22	Vinovich	Salem	teacher
ALT	FJ	Jabir Walker	8	Hussey	Murray State	middle school teacher
ALT	BJ	Greg Yette	13	Allen	Howard	defense contractor