Remembering Tommy Bell on his 100th birthday

Embed from Getty Images We pause today to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of NFL referee Tommy Bell. He was born July 2, 1922, and died February 20, 1986, after a long illness. Bell worked in the NFL in 1961 and retired after the 1976 AFC Championship Game. In an

New book shows officiating is ‘A Tough Job Made Harder’

Review by Mark Schultz If you've followed Football Zebras for any length of time, you know that we break down football officiating and (hopefully) show you how difficult calling a football game is. Between interpreting complicated rules, avoiding getting run over by people twice their size, tuning out 50,000 people chanting

Throwback to the finest officiating sequence I’ve ever seen

I remember several post-season classic games and the officiating that goes with such games. It is hard after a year or two for me to remember a classic regular-season game where the officiating actually enhanced the quality of the contest. But, there is one regular-season game that I remember almost 26-years

Throwback to 1986 – Jerry Markbreit’s only NFL ejection

While many television networks are continuing to re-air feature games with memorable performances, Football Zebras is going behind the stripes to highlight some throwback moments from NFL officials. Let's go back to November of 1986. Jerry Markbreit's crew was assigned a Bears-Packers game at Soldier Field in Chicago. The season before, the

NFL takes a hit after four referee retirements

Embed from Getty Images Every generation of NFL officiating gives way to the next. This past offseason, we saw, very quickly and dramatically, one generation give way to the next. Referees Ed Hochuli, Gene Steratore, Terry McAulay and Jeff Triplette represent 88-years of experience at the referee position. That is 88-years