Smith and Blakeman are Conference Championship referees

Football Zebras exclusive

Football Zebras has confirmed the assignment of referees Shawn Smith and Clete Blakeman to the Conference Championship games on Sunday. Smith will be in Baltimore for the AFC matchup between the Chiefs and Ravens; Blakeman will be in San Francisco for the clash between the Lions and 49ers.

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).

Sunday, Jan. 29

AFC Championship Game: Chiefs at Ravens, 3:00 p.m. CBS Paramount+

Shawn Smith is the referee, who is in his 9th season and 6th as referee. This is Smith’s 8th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, a Divisional Playoff, and 2 Conference Championships.

He got started as a flag football official at Eastern Michigan University. Smith was recruited to run track and play football at EMU before transferring to Ferris State University.

At the collegiate level, Smith officiated in Conference USA in 2009, the Mid-American Conference from 2009 to 2012 and the Big Ten Conference from 2012 to 2014. He worked at the back judge position during this time, and completed his first full season as a Big Ten referee in 2014, when the NFL came calling for the 2015 season. Smith worked the 2011 Armed Forces Bowl and the 2015 Senior Bowl while a college football official.

The NFL promoted him to the referee position in 2018 after referee Terry McAulay left the NFL to join NBC.

Smith, 50, is a corporate manager for a major health insurer in the Detroit metro area.

			Yrs	2023 crew	College	Occupation
R	14	Shawn Smith	9		Ferris State	finance
U	81	Roy Ellison	21	Hill	Savannah State	IT engineer
DJ	6	Jerod Phillips	8	Martin	Northeastern State	real estate agent
LJ	45	Jeff Seeman	22	Smith	Minnesota	brokerage sales
FJ	33	Nate Jones	5	Cheffers	Rutgers	firefighter/EMT FORMER NFL PLAYER
SJ	36	Anthony Jeffries	6	Rogers	Alabama-Birmingham	medical sales
BJ	105	Dino Paganelli	18	Smith	Aquinas College	educator
RO		Mike Wimmer	21	Smith	NYU	producer
RA	RA	Sebrina Brunson	4	Smith	Florida Atlantic	case specialist
ALT	R	Clay Martin	9		Oklahoma Baptist	retired high school administrator and basketball coach
ALT	U	Bryan Neale	10	Smith	Indiana	sales consultant
ALT	DJ	Kent Payne	20	Rogers	Nebraska Wesleyan	agribusinessman
ALT	LJ	Tripp Sutter	5	Wrolstad	Nebraska	biopharmaceutical rep
ALT	FJ	John Jenkins	10	Eck	St. Mary’s	sales executive
ALT	SJ	Jimmy Buchanan	15	Vinovich	South Carolina State	food service director
ALT	BJ	Greg Steed	21	Hill	Howard	computer systems analyst
ALT	RO	Mark Butterworth	7	Vinovich	Walsh	non-profit COO

NFC Championship Game: Lions at 49ers, 6:30 p.m. Fox

Clete Blakeman is the referee, who is in his 16th season and 14th as referee. This is Blakeman’s 14th postseason assignment, including 4 Wild Card Playoffs, 5 Divisional Playoffs, 4 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl 50. His Super Bowl assignment was as a referee.

Before becoming an official, Blakeman was a second-string quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1984 to 1987. He started a handful of games, most notably a 70-0 shutout of the Kansas Jayhawks in 1986.

Blakeman, 59, came to the NFL from the Big 12 Conference in 2008. After a couple of seasons at field judge, he was promoted to referee in 2010.

Blakeman is a personal-injury attorney in Omaha, where he lives with his wife and two children.

			Yrs	2023 crew	College	Occupation
R	34	Clete Blakeman	16		Nebraska	attorney
U	20	Barry Anderson	17	Torbert	North Carolina State	builder/developer
DJ	8	Dana McKenzie	16	Blakeman	Toledo	claims adjuster
LJ	59	Rusty Baynes	14	Kemp	Auburn-Montgomery	general manager, safety services
FJ	90	Anthony Flemming	4	Hussey	Texas A&M-Commerce	senior auditor
SJ	125	Chad Hill	6	Hochuli	Mississippi	medical sales
BJ	27	Grantis Bell	4	Wrolstad	West Virginia	school counselor
RO		Chad Adams	6	Blakeman	Cincinnati	operations
RA	RA	Gerald Frye	4	Eck	Gannon	veterinarian
ALT	R	Shawn Hochuli	10		Claremont	financial advisor
ALT	U	Carl Paganelli	24	Hussey	Michigan State	retired federal probation officer
ALT	DJ	Frank LeBlanc	4	Hussey	Lamar Institute of Technology	neighborhood services manager
ALT	LJ	Mark Stewart	6	Novak	Pittsburg State	rancher
ALT	FJ	Mearl Robinson	7	Hill	Air Force	retired U.S. Air Force instructor
ALT	SJ	Dominique Pender	4	Clark	Howard	trade support, finance and banking
ALT	BJ	Todd Prukop	15	Blake	Cal State-Fullerton	medical sales representative
ALT	RO	Bob Hubbell	4	Clark	Texas A&M	steel sales