5 observations from championship weekend, 2020

We've made it all the way through the conference championships, and here are my officiating impressions from the weekend. 1. Umpire hustle https://streamable.com/38ntps Both Barry Anderson and Ramon George showed lots of hustle this weekend. It is hard to see in snippets of them running through the frame, but experienced zebra-watchers could tell

Super Bowl 50 photo album

Officiating photos from Super Bowl 50 courtesy of team photographers and Getty Images.From team photographers (click on any image to view as a slideshow):From Getty Images:Clete Blakeman and field judge Boris Cheek talk to Peyton Manning before the game.Embed from Getty Images Jeff Rice escorts Denver captains onto the field for

5 officiating observations from Super Bowl 50

Embed from Getty Images   No iconic calls, but Blakeman's crew handles business The game wasn't a classic, but it was more competitive than the 24-10 score. While none of the calls from Super Bowl 50 will make our list of best all-time calls, the officiating crew can be satisfied with their efforts. Here

The coin toss: What could go wrong?

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. For generations, that question has been decided by the coin toss. The procedure is the same from pee-wee games to the NFL.First of all,

Clete Blakeman is referee for Super Bowl 50

Football Zebras exclusive Clete Blakeman will be the referee heading the Super Bowl 50 officiating staff on Feb. 7 in Santa Clara, Calif., confirmed by multiple sources. The assignments were officially given to the crew today. Blakeman worked the overtime Divisional Playoff game between the Packers and Cardinals last Saturday. Each of

NFL getting their stripes in a row for 2014

League has several shoes to fill in the offseason The Super Bowl is fast fading into the rear view mirror and we now enter what is called the "dark period" in regard to NFL officiating.  According to the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association, there is

Divisional playoff liveblog: Chargers at Broncos

AFC Divisional Playoff Follow us here for rolling coverage of the calls and rules interpretations of the Chargers-Broncos Divisional Playoff game from Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. (If you see continue reading below, click it to see the entire feed.) If you have any questions or comments, use the