Football Zebras

Watching for the #ToeDragSwag is the Call of the Week

by Mark Schultz - September 17, 2021September 17, 2021 02481

Side judge Allen Baynes, with an assist from back judge Brad Freeman, rules on a Steelers touchdown catch. It is the first Football Zebras Call of the Week for 2021. https://streamable.com/zt1q0a

Father’s Day crews

by Mark Schultz - June 17, 2018June 18, 2018 17846

One of the fun parts of being a dad is when a child wants to join the dad in an activity or hobby, or just wants to spend time together. I'm sure NFL officials are happy when their kids want to take up officiating. That happiness and pride, I'm sure,

Fail Mary was a failure beyond the field

News

by Ben Austro - September 4, 2014January 17, 2015 25212

Commentary by Ben Austro The play was one in a million. You could work the triple shifts in peewee right up through three decades in the NFL and still not see a simultaneous catch call like this (video). The Packers-Seahawks meeting in 2012 was the end of the seventh full week of

Training tape: defenseless receiver, taunting, clock on out-of-bounds fumble

by Ben Austro - October 5, 2013 03139

Dean Blandino, NFL vice president of officiating, released this week's media tape regarding rules calls mostly from Week 4 (150 MB download). This week's topics: When defenseless protections end. The play in question was a legal hit on Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, correctly called (SJ 67 Doug Rosenbaum, BJ 93 Scott

Carey, Morelli, Steratore crews assigned to Wild Card; Coleman subs for McAulay

by Ben Austro - January 6, 2011November 15, 2012 54710

The officiating crews for the Wild Card games on Jan. 8 and 9 have been announced by the NFL. Kickoff times are Eastern. (See our previous post on the process of qualification.) Saints at Seahawks (Saturday, 4:30 p.m.) R â€” #65 Walt Coleman (22nd year, 16th year as referee) U â€” #121 Paul