2025 Divisional Playoffs
Cheffers, Hussey, Smith, and Hochuli are Divisional Playoff referees
The 4 referees for the Divisional Playoffs have been announced
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.
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.
AFC Divisional: Bills at Broncos, 4:30 p.m. CBS Paramount+
Carl Cheffers is the referee, who is in his 26th season and 18th as referee. This is Cheffers’s 21st postseason assignment, including 6 Wild Card Playoffs, 9 Divisional Playoffs, 3 Conference Championships, and Super Bowls LI, LV, and LVII. All three of his Super Bowl assignments were as a referee.
| Yrs | 2025 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 51 | Carl Cheffers | 26 | California-Irvine | sales manager | |
| U | 131 | Mark Pellis | 12 | Clark | Allegheny | financial advisor |
| DJ | 6 | Jerod Phillips | 10 | Martin | Northeastern State | real estate agent |
| LJ | 59 | Rusty Baynes | 16 | Kemp | Auburn-Montgomery | general manager, safety services |
| FJ | 26 | Jabir Walker | 11 | Clark | Murray State | middle school teacher |
| SJ | 56 | Allen Baynes | 18 | Hussey | Auburn | realtor |
| BJ | 93 | Scott Helverson | 23 | Kemp | Iowa | sales, printing and promotions |
| RO | Kevin Stine | 8 | Torbert | Alabama-Birmingham | regional sales manager | |
| RA | Marty Abezetian | 1 | Torbert | |||
| ALT | R | Brad Allen | 12 | Pembroke State | nonprofit CEO | |
| ALT | U | Duane Heydt | 4 | Hussey | South Carolina | statistician and real-estate investor |
| ALT | LOS | Carl Johnson | 22 | Hussey | Nicholls State | retired sales manager, former full-time official |
| ALT | DEEP | Tra Boger | 4 | Hill | Tulane | assistant principal |
| ALT | BJ | Jimmy Russell | 7 | Hochuli | Pasco Hernando State | insurance agent |
NFC Divisional: 49ers at Seahawks, 8 p.m. Fox Fox One
John Hussey is the referee, who is in his 24th season and 11th as referee. This is Hussey’s 19th postseason assignment, including 7 Wild Card Playoffs, 7 Divisional Playoffs, 4 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl XLV. His Super Bowl assignment was as a line judge.
| Yrs | 2025 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 35 | John Hussey | 24 | Idaho State | nonprofit founder and CEO | |
| U | 81 | Roy Ellison | 23 | Hill | Savannah State | IT engineer |
| DJ | 113 | Danny Short | 9 | Wrolstad | North Carolina-Charlotte | executive director, global sales operations |
| LJ | 47 | Tim Podraza | 18 | Hochuli | Nebraska | business performance consultant |
| FJ | 33 | Nate Jones | 7 | Cheffers | Rutgers | firefighter/EMT FORMER NFL PLAYER |
| SJ | 41 | Boris Cheek | 30 | Smith | Morgan State | retired director of operations and management |
| BJ | 133 | Martin Hankins | 3 | Cheffers | Memphis | court clerk |
| RO | Matt Sumstine | 8 | Novak | Phoenix | real estate | |
| RA | Brian Davies | 3 | Novak | |||
| ALT | R | Ron Torbert | 16 | Michigan State | attorney | |
| ALT | U | Paul King | 17 | (swing) | Nichols College | teacher |
| ALT | LOS | Tom Stephan | 27 | Clark | Pittsburg State | retired business broker |
| ALT | DEEP | Don Willard | 8 | Novak | Illinois State | physical therapist |
| ALT | BJ | Greg Yette | 16 | Rogers | Howard | defense contractor |
AFC Divisional: Texans at Patriots, 3 p.m. ABC ESPN ESPN2 ESPN+
Shawn Smith is the referee, who is in his 11th season and 8th as referee. This is Smith’s 10th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 3 Divisional Playoffs and 2 Conference Championships.
| Yrs | 2025 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 14 | Shawn Smith | 11 | Ferris State | finance | |
| U | 11 | Scott Walker | 2 | Vinovich | Florida A&M | insurance agent |
| DJ | 8 | Dana McKenzie | 18 | Moore | Toledo | claims adjuster |
| LJ | 10 | Julian Mapp | 17 | Hill | Grambling State | software quality assurance tester |
| FJ | 72 | Jason Ledet | 3 | Hochuli | Nicholls State | physical therapy and rehabilitation |
| SJ | 103 | Eugene Hall | 12 | Cheffers | North Texas | federal agent |
| BJ | 27 | Grantis Bell | 6 | Eck | West Virginia | school counselor |
| RO | Andrew Lambert | 8 | Hussey | Central Virginia Community College | business development | |
| RA | Julie Johnson | 3 | Kemp | Maryland | coordinator of intramural sports | |
| ALT | R | Alex Kemp | 12 | Central Michigan | insurance agent | |
| ALT | U | Mike Morton | 4 | Novak | North Carolina | dentist FORMER NFL PLAYER |
| ALT | LOS | Mark Stewart | 8 | Novak | Pittsburg State | rancher |
| ALT | DEEP | Dominique Pender | 6 | Clark | Howard | trade support, finance and banking |
| ALT | BJ | Todd Prukop | 17 | Vinovich | Cal State-Fullerton | medical sales representative |
NFC Divisional: Rams at Bears, 6:30 p.m. NBC Peacock
Shawn Hochuli is the referee, who is in his 12th season and 8th as referee. This is Hochuli’s 10th postseason assignment, including a Wild Card Playoff, 8 Divisional Playoffs, and a Conference Championship.
| Yrs | 2025 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 83 | Shawn Hochuli | 12 | Claremont | financial advisor | |
| U | 92 | Bryan Neale | 12 | Rogers | Indiana | sales consultant |
| DJ | 106 | Patrick Holt | 7 | Hochuli | North Carolina State | IT manager |
| LJ | 97 | Brian Perry | 2 | Martin | Texas | mutual funds |
| FJ | 90 | Anthony Flemming | 6 | Hussey | Texas A&M-Commerce | senior auditor |
| SJ | 125 | Chad Hill | 8 | Allen | Mississippi | medical sales |
| BJ | 12 | Greg Steed | 23 | Hill | Howard | computer systems analyst |
| RO | Chad Adams | 7 | Blakeman | Cincinnati | operations | |
| RA | Amber Cipriani | 2 | Blakeman | Florida State | sporting goods supply chain analyst | |
| ALT | R | Clete Blakeman | 18 | Nebraska | attorney | |
| ALT | U | Derek Anderson | 2 | Cheffers | Sam Houston State | vice president |
| ALT | LOS | Tripp Sutter | 7 | Vinovich | Nebraska | biopharmaceutical rep |
| ALT | DEEP | Sean Petty | 3 | Kemp | ||
| ALT | BJ | Rich Martinez | 12 | Wrolstad | Canisius | sales manager |
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Anonymous
January 12, 2026 at 3:10 pm
One of these 4 Whitehats willl be the Super Bowl Refree – I do not think Cheffers deserves it this year but if he does he will tie Jerry Markbrieght with 4 – I think the two Shawn are elite and will get a few Super Bowls each before there time is done. But this one I believe belongs to John Hussey
Anonymous
January 12, 2026 at 3:11 pm
I think the Superbowl referees might be
Hochuli
Smith
Cheffers
Anonymous
January 13, 2026 at 9:35 am
Just so you guys know the listed crew is not nececarily for 2025 you have Blake as a listed crew chief for some people, he was moved to umpire and no longer a crew chief. there are others as well but all are current except for a replay assiatant
Anonymous
January 13, 2026 at 2:14 pm
Thought tra blake was an umpire not a referee leading a crew. The 2025 crews listed for multiple officials are incorrect
Anonymous
January 16, 2026 at 2:23 pm
In previous years, they teased a Super Bowl appointment for Hussey, Hochuli and Smith. This year, one of them could get the big game. The easiest decision would be to just select the referee who has the best divisional performance. Let´s see what happens. For the championship games, we should expect Vinovich and Kemp, unless they surprise us with Clay Martin.
Anonymous
January 17, 2026 at 3:28 pm
Super Bowl referee should be Alex Moore and clay Martin nfl conference championship referees should be Alex kemp and Brad Rodger’s
Tom
January 17, 2026 at 4:20 pm
The games I saw with Kemp were terrible. His crew let Pittsburgh get away with all kinds of pass interference and dirty tackling. I would like Hussey to finally get a Super Bowl. His games are usually consistent.
Anonymous
January 17, 2026 at 7:15 pm
Carl cheffers needs to help Denver . He his banned from the play offs
Anonymous
January 17, 2026 at 7:16 pm
Alex kemp deserves it
Anonymous
January 18, 2026 at 4:03 pm
John Hussey is banned from the Seahawks game
Anonymous
January 18, 2026 at 4:04 pm
Conference championship referees should be Alex kemp and clay Martin
Anonymous
January 18, 2026 at 8:04 pm
Where is the nfl conference championship and the college football championship for tomorrow
David
January 19, 2026 at 8:32 am
To the person who suggested Alex Moore should be the Super Bowl referee: I hope you are being sarcastic. For one, Moore cannot work a playoff game in his first season as a referee. Second, he’s not good enough.