2025 Wild Card Playoffs

NFL assigns officiating crews for the 2025-26 Wild Card Playoffs

The six referees for Wild Card Weekend have been announced.

Published

2 days ago

January 5, 2026

Football Zebras has confirmed the officiating crews for the Wild Card Playoffs. This is the sixth year of the expanded playoff system with six Wild Card Playoff games.

For the Saturday games, Clete Blakeman will have Rams-Panthers and Adrian Hill works the night game between the Packers and Bears. On Sunday, Brad Allen will be in Jacksonville for Bills-Jaguars, followed by Alan Eck for 49ers-Eagles, and Ron Torbert completes the tripleheader for Chargers-Patriots. Concluding the schedule on Monday night Craig Wrolstad will head the crew for Texans at Steelers.

Alan Eck will be officiating his first postseason game since his promotion to referee in 2023.

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 or Conference Championships. Past practice is that the on-field Wild Card officials do not work another on-field assignment, although it is possible to see a double assignment for some isolated reasons. In any event, none of the officials listed here, including the alternates, would be receiving a Super Bowl assignment, other than as an alternate.

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).

Saturday, Jan. 10

NFC Wild Card: Rams at Panthers, 4:30 p.m. Fox Fox One

Clete Blakeman is the referee, who is in his 18th season and 16th as referee. This is Blakeman’s 16th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 5 Divisional Playoffs, 5 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl 50. His Super Bowl assignment was as a referee.

			Yrs	2025 crew	College	Occupation
R	34	Clete Blakeman	18		Nebraska	attorney
U	127	Scott Campbell	3	Blakeman	California-Davis	firefighter
DJ	63	Mike Carr	9	Kemp	Wisconsin	athletic director
LJ	37	Tripp Sutter	7	Vinovich	Nebraska	biopharmaceutical rep
FJ	28	Sean Petty	3	Kemp
SJ	58	Don Willard	8	Novak	Illinois State	physical therapist
BJ	105	Dino Paganelli	20	Smith	Aquinas College	educator
RO		Tyler Cerimeli	8	Moore	Arizona State	high school officials coordinator
RA		Desiree Abrams	6	Moore	Florida A&M	food safety enforcement coordinator
ALT	R	Alex Moore	4		St. Petersburg	compliance manager
ALT	U	Mark Pellis	12	Clark	Allegheny	financial advisor
ALT	DJ	Derick Bowers	23	Hill	East Central	sales representative
ALT	FJ	Jabir Walker	11	Clark	Murray State	middle school teacher
ALT	BJ	Jonah Monroe	11	Blakeman	Arkansas	engineer

NFC Wild Card: Packers at Bears, 8:15 p.m. Prime

Adrian Hill will be the referee for Round 3 of Bears-Packers. Hill is in his 16th season and 7th as referee. This is Hill’s 6th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs and a Divisional Playoff.

			Yrs	2025 crew	College	Occupation
R	29	Adrian Hill	16		Buffalo	aerospace software engineer
U	42	Duane Heydt	4	Hussey	South Carolina	statistician and real-estate investor
DJ	112	Brian Sakowski	3	Novak	Gannon	quality engineer
LJ	101	Carl Johnson	22	Hussey	Nicholls State	retired sales manager, former full-time official
FJ	60	Jeff Shears	4	Wrolstad	Denver	professor
SJ	56	Allen Baynes	18	Hussey	Auburn	realtor
BJ	30	Todd Prukop	17	Vinovich	Cal State-Fullerton	medical sales representative
RO		Denise Crudup	6	Rogers	Wilmington	accounts payable analyst
RA		Brian Smith	1	Rogers
ALT	R	Clay Martin	11		Oklahoma Baptist	retired high school administrator and basketball coach
ALT	U	Barry Anderson	19	Torbert	North Carolina State	builder/developer
ALT	LJ	Brian Bolinger	9	Torbert	Indiana State	corporate safety director
ALT	SJ	Eugene Hall	12	Cheffers	North Texas	federal agent
ALT	BJ	Martin Hankins	3	Cheffers	Memphis	court clerk

Sunday, Jan. 11

AFC Wild Card: Bills at Jaguars, 1 p.m. CBS Paramount+

The crew in Jacksonville will be headed by referee Brad Allen, who is in his 12th season. This is Allen’s 7th postseason assignment, including 6 Wild Card Playoffs and a Divisional Playoff. Allen was hired directly to the referee position from the ACC in 2014.

			Yrs	2025 crew	College	Occupation
R	122	Brad Allen	12		Pembroke State	nonprofit CEO
U	89	Mike Morton	4	Novak	North Carolina	dentist FORMER NFL PLAYER
DJ	53	Sarah Thomas	11	Allen	Mobile	sales representative
LJ	32	Walter Flowers	3	Allen
FJ	109	Dyrol Prioleau	19	Smith	Johnson C Smith	manager, law firm
SJ	95	James Coleman	21	Blakeman	Arkansas	electrical engineer
BJ	119	Greg Wilson	18	Martin	USC	retired police officer
RO		Kevin Brown	7	Allen	Purdue	retired air traffic controller
RA		Randy Roseberry	1	Allen
ALT	R	Land Clark	8		Sevier Valley Tech	chief building official
ALT	U	Scott Walker	2	Vinovich	Florida A&M	insurance agent
ALT	DJ	Jerod Phillips	10	Martin	Northeastern State	real estate agent
ALT	FJ	Nate Jones	7	Cheffers	Rutgers	firefighter/EMT FORMER NFL PLAYER
ALT	BJ	Grantis Bell	6	Eck	West Virginia	school counselor

NFC Wild Card: 49ers at Eagles, 4:30 p.m. Fox Fox One

Alan Eck will head the crew as the 49ers take on the Eagles. Eck is in his 10th season and 3rd as referee. This is Eck’s 3rd postseason assignment, and his first as referee. His first two postseason assignments, a Divisional Playoff and a Conference Championship, were as an umpire.

			Yrs	2025 crew	College	Occupation
R	76	Alan Eck	10		Bloomsburg State	tax manager
U	121	Paul King	17	(swing)	Nichols College	teacher
DJ	68	Tom Stephan	27	Clark	Pittsburg State	retired business broker
LJ	45	Jeff Seeman	24	Smith	Minnesota	brokerage sales
FJ	107	Dave Hawkshaw	7	Martin	Justice Institute of British Columbia	firefighter, former CFL official
SJ	114	Dominique Pender	6	Clark	Howard	trade support, finance and banking
BJ	67	Tony Josselyn	8	Novak	Eastern Kentucky	probation officer
RO		Joe Wollan	6	Eck	St. Thomas	recruiting
RA		Ken Hall	5	Wrolstad
ALT	R	Bill Vinovich	20		San Diego	certified public accountant
ALT	U	Bryan Neale	12	Rogers	Indiana	sales consultant
ALT	DJ	Frank LeBlanc	6	Torbert	Lamar Institute of Technology	neighborhood services manager
ALT	FJ	Mearl Robinson	9	Moore	Air Force	retired U.S. Air Force instructor
ALT	BJ	Greg Meyer	24	(swing)	Texas Christian	banker

AFC Wild Card: Chargers at Patriots, 8:15 p.m. NBC Peacock

The Sunday night game in Foxborough will have Ron Torbert at referee, who is in his 16th season and 12th as referee. This is Torbert’s 15th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 7 Divisional Playoffs, a Conference Championship, and Super Bowls LVI and LIX. Both of his Super Bowl assignments were as a referee.

			Yrs	2025 crew	College	Occupation
R	62	Ron Torbert	16		Michigan State	attorney
U	54	Steve Woods	9	Martin	Wabash	financial advisor
DJ	84	Jay Bilbo	3	Smith	Ottawa (KS)	information technology
LJ	75	Mark Stewart	8	Novak	Pittsburg State	rancher
FJ	25	Ryan Dickson	9	Torbert	Utah	commercial real estate developer
SJ	7	Keith Washington	18	Torbert	Virginia Military Institute	program financial analyst
BJ	82	Jimmy Russell	7	Hochuli	Pasco Hernando State	insurance agent
RO		Mike Wimmer	23	Smith	NYU	producer
RA		Artenzia Young-Seigler	6	Martin	Paul Quinn College	college professor
ALT	R	Scott Novak	12		Phoenix	sales manager
ALT	U	Terry Killens	7	Moore	Penn State	campus security specialist FORMER NFL PLAYER
ALT	LJ	Kent Payne	22	Blakeman	Nebraska Wesleyan	agribusinessman
ALT	SJ	Anthony Jeffries	8	Moore	Alabama-Birmingham	medical sales
ALT	BJ	Terrence Miles	18	Moore	Arizona State	quality control manager

Monday, Jan. 12

AFC Wild Card: Texans at Steelers, 8:15 p.m. ABC ESPN ESPN2 ESPN+

The final Wild Card officiating crew of the week will be led by Craig Wrolstad, who is in his 23rd season and 12th as referee. This is his 16th postseason assignment, including 9 Wild Card Playoffs, 4 Divisional Playoffs, 2 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl XLVII. His Super Bowl assignment was as a field judge.

			Yrs	2025 crew	College	Occupation
R	4	Craig Wrolstad	23		Washington	athletic director
U	22	Brandon Cruse	4	Wrolstad	South Dakota School of Mines & Technology	management consultant
DJ	85	Daniel Gallagher	6	Cheffers	Kent State	athletic programs manager
LJ	17	Brett Bergman	3	Wrolstad	Villanova	healthcare innovation
FJ	117	John Jenkins	12	Eck	St. Mary’s	sales executive
SJ	132	Frank Steratore	3	Wrolstad		sales, sanitary supplies company
BJ	39	Rich Martinez	12	Wrolstad	Canisius	sales manager
RO		Jamie Nicholson	8	Hochuli	Ferris State	teacher
RA		Jim Van Geffen	3	Vinovich	Texas-Austin	director of suppply chain management
ALT	R	Brad Rogers	9		Lubbock Christian	college professor
ALT	U	Roy Ellison	23	Hill	Savannah State	IT engineer
ALT	LJ	Rusty Baynes	16	Kemp	Auburn-Montgomery	general manager, safety services
ALT	SJ	Boris Cheek	30	Smith	Morgan State	retired director of operations and management
ALT	BJ	Scott Helverson	23	Kemp	Iowa	sales, printing and promotions