Football Zebras

No eighth official in 2020

by Mark Schultz - April 14, 2020 1

According to a report from John Kryk in The Telegram, the NFL will not add an eighth official for the 2020 season. The proposal is for the eighth official to be the sky judge (the position name bandied about at the moment). The idea is for the sky judge to intervene and

Working the official? Putting a bug in their ear? What exactly was Kyle Shanahan doing?

by Rich Madrid - January 22, 2020January 23, 2020 0

In this week's Inside the NFL on Showtime, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan can be seen and heard doing what's known as "working the official," that is, alerting the official to potential things an opposing team is doing or might do that is a violation of the rules. This can

Getting back on the horse: officials must focus on recovering from a bad game

Mechanics

by Mark Schultz - December 13, 2019 0

Every official in every sport from the peanut league to the pros has had that moment. They come off the field to boos from the fans, glares from coaches, and dour faces from their supervisors. The official or crew has had a bad game. Whether it was one bad call

NFL100: A century of determining who gets the ball first

by Mark Schultz - November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 2

It is a simple procedure. The game can’t begin without it. Before any football game starts the referee has to decide who gets the ball first. That question has been decided by the coin toss for the past 100 years. The coin toss determines who gets the first choice of

NFL100: 30 years ago instant replay helped decide the outcome of a game … and it wasn’t pretty

by Mark Schultz - November 22, 2019 1

https://streamable.com/u5g78 On Nov. 6, 1989, the Green Bay Packers hosted their hated rival the Chicago Bears. The Bears were having a down season and the Packers showing life for the first time in many years, winning several close, last-minute games and getting the nickname "The Cardiac Pack." The past five years featured

When teams are determined to fight, officials go into survival mode

by Mark Schultz - November 21, 2019 2

NFL officials have several tools to try and maintain order and prevent the game from degenerating into a fight. The biggest tool, short of throwing a flag, is preventative officiating. Officials don't want to throw flags and throw people out a ball games, so they use their people skills to

NFL100: Officials used to use only one ball for a game

by Mark Schultz - October 25, 2019October 25, 2019 0

Today, it is rare to see officials spot the same football for two straight downs. Watch the next game and you'll see the wing officials tossing a new football to the referee or umpire after every play. For a regular game, the NFL prepares 48 game footballs and 6 special

NFL100: The expansion of officiating crews followed the evolution of the game

by Mark Schultz - September 19, 2019September 19, 2019 1

http://gty.im/515014724 When the NFL was born, only three officials called the game. Now there are seven --nine if you include the replay official and replay assistant -- with calls to add another pair of eyes at field level. As a part of the NFL's 100th season, Football Zebras takes a look at

In addition to pass interference, replay is undergoing a ‘configuration change’

by Ben Austro - September 5, 2019September 5, 2019 3

http://gty.im/874232202 Replay reviews are going to be handled a little differently this season, simultaneous with the addition of pass interference into the mix. As Football Zebras reported in March, the replay booth underwent "configuration changes" in which several long-tenured replay assistants were dismissed. The replay official, who already monitors the live play,

NFL taking another look at adding an 8th official in preseason test

by Ben Austro - August 16, 2019August 27, 2019 1

After taking a preseason off from experimenting with new officiating positions, the NFL will once again look at ways to add an eighth official on the field. Since 2010, there have been various experiments in preseason games with different mechanics for an extra official. At the beginning of the decade, the