NFL grooming players on officiating ‘fast track’

The NFL could soon see more former players become officials. The league is sending 14 former players and one active player to a pair of officiating clinics over the next three days. The first clinic is tomorrow, March 13. It is the league's Fast Track Clinic, run by the Football Officiating

Blandino supports clock stop to fix ‘obvious confusion’ with chains

Possible ambiguity of down signal may have lead to HL error Should the clock have stopped? In last night's game, referee Jeff Triplette believed (and I fully supported) that, even though the sideline chains were advancing, his third-down signal is the only indication of the down. If he stopped the clock

Kickoff 2013: The officials by the numbers

Click the image to enlarge. It is time to kick off the new football season! Here are some numbers for all of the zebra watchers out there. Enjoy! Designed and researched by Ben Austro. Sources: NFL Record and Fact Book (2013, 2008, 2000); Pro-Football-Reference.com (Coleman, Freeman, McKinnely); Football Zebras, "Officiating crews for the