Obituary

Wayne Mackie, Super Bowl 50 head linesman and an NFL vice president of officiating development, died suddenly Thursday night in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 62. Mackie was working with the Competition Committee in advance of the annual owners meeting set to begin there next week. Mackie joined the NFL in

Johnny Grier, the NFL's first Black referee and field judge for Super Bowl XXII, has passed away at the age of 74. Grier worked in the NFL from 1981 to 2004. He wore number 23 for most of his career. According to the Washington Post and the New York Times,

2021 was a tough year for those with any connection to the NFL officiating community. This year, we lost six former NFL officials, a former replay official who went to lead the college replay operations, and a current official that passed away during the season. As 2021 comes to a

Ben Dreith, the NFL referee known for a no-nonsense demeanor and his idiosyncratic penalty announcements that made him the first household name in NFL officiating, died at his home at the age of 96. He was the oldest living NFL official at the time of his death on April 25,

Jim Blackwood, a longtime college coordinator of officials and one of the innovators of the use of replay in college football, has died at the age of 81 after a brief illness. A giant in the officiating world and a mentor to many officials, Blackwood was most recently the national replay

Robert W. Boylston, 1939-2021 Former NFL umpire Bob Boylston, known for his dry wit delivered in a thick Southern drawl as much as being one of the top umpires in the league, died Thursday at the age of 81. It is the second loss of a highly recognized NFL official at