Profiles

Happy 90th birthday, Jim Tunney!

by Mark Schultz - 16382

If you were a fan of the NFL in the 1970s and 1980s, and when there was a marquee game on TV, there was a strong chance that Jim Tunney was the referee. The "Dean of NFL Referees" and the first official to call consecutive Super Bowls, celebrates his 90th birthday

Adrian Hill and Scott Novak promoted to referee position

by Cameron Filipe - 012480

The NFL has selected its two newest white hats. Today, senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron has announced that side judges Adrian Hill and Scott Novak have been promoted to the referee position. They will be replacing retirees Walt Coleman and Pete Morelli. Adrian Hill Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'vzxgWAzrRUlTQiWik1Z5cQ',sig:'5jrD_PWYTXNBqtb6pdiExKI5YMM9sdtU9BGyQILDCA0=',w:'594px',h:'428px',items:'626584758',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360:

Honoring current NFL officials who served their country

by Ben Austro - 03565

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the armistice to end the war to end all wars, we recognize with profound respect all those who have served our country on this day, and we salute the veterans on the NFL officiating staff.  Click or tap an image above to open as

Walt Coleman joins officiating’s exclusive 30 Club

by Ben Austro - 210980

The league's own press materials refer to him as "the dean of NFL officials." Referee Walt Coleman will take the field for his 30th NFL season when he blows the whistle to start Thursday's Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. In doing so, he will have reached a milestone

NFL promotes 2 second-generation referees: Shawn Hochuli and Alex Kemp

by Mark Schultz - 222811

  Fathers have passed the NFL white hat to the sons, one directly and one posthumously. As Football Zebras noted last month, Alex Kemp seemed to be the frontrunner to be promoted to referee upon the retirement of Jeff Triplette. We also noted that back judge Shawn Hochuli was in the mix,

A salute to those officials who served our country

by Ben Austro - 05392

We recognize all those who have served our country on this day, and we salute the veterans on the NFL officiating staff.  Click or tap an image above to open as slides. Click the arrows below to navigate. From Getty Images: BJ38 Greg Yette (USA Infantry) RO Tom Sifferman (Vietnam War, USA) RO 1st Lt.

Referees union is honoring 3 retiring officials

by Ben Austro - 15684

  The National Football League Referees' Association announced it is honoring three officials who retired at the end of the 2016 season: head linesman John McGrath, line judge Tony Veteri, and side judge Bob Waggoner. All three will be recognized at the union's annual meeting in April. The statement released by the

Blakeman takes #HotRef in stride, appears on ‘Today’ and ‘Access Hollywood Live’

by Ben Austro - 104021

Super Bowl 50 referee Clete Blakeman has lead a relatively obscure existence in the NFL, with an occasional reference here, although I've even admitted in the past to be "riding high on the Clete Blakeman bandwagon." The first sign that something was piquing the interest of fans on Sunday was when