East-West Shrine and Senior Bowls will feature developmental officials scouted by NFL

The invitational bowl schedule continues with the East-West Shrine Bowl on Thursday and the Reese’s Senior Bowl on Saturday. For these games, the NFL officiating department selects officials from its development program to officiate these collegiate all-stars.

The NFL’s Mackie Development Program — renamed last year for the late Wayne Mackie who spearheaded development initiatives as a former NFL official and executive — allows college football officials and NFL prospects to get extra training from the NFL and will work in NFL training camps during the summer months.

These invitational bowls are included, as it allows for these prospective new hires to take more snaps under the watchful eye of the NFL officiating department, to potentially move up the pipeline to join the NFL roster. The Hula Bowl was the first invitational bowl played this year, and featured an officiating crew of all women. Following this weekend, one game remains: the Legacy Bowl in New Orleans on Feb. 25.

Below are the crew rosters for each game, including notations for officials who are currently in the MDP, assignments to bowl games or conference championship games this season, and assignment to one of the three spring pro football leagues (the ones indicated here all worked in either the 2019 AAF or 2020 XFL).

East-West Shrine Bowl

Reese’s Senior Bowl