Alan Eck promoted to NFL referee

Umpire Alan Eck has been promoted from umpire to referee, replacing the retired Jerome Boger. Eck wears number 76 and just completed his seventh season as an NFL official. https://twitter.com/NFLOfficiating/status/1631711573373853697 Eck has flown under the radar as far as referee prospects go. He worked as a referee in college in the Big

Umpire position incubator for future NFL crew chiefs?

[Update: Brad Allen was moved to referee without having worked at the umpire position to fill a vacancy caused by referee Mike Carey's departure. The post as it originally appeared is below.] We know the NFL officiating roster for 2014.  The names have been announced, but one position assignment caught my

Wrolstad and Torbert new NFL referees

Two veterans replace the retired Green and Winter NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed to an Associated Press reporter yesterday that Ronald Torbert and Craig Wrolstad will be referees for the upcoming 2014 season.  Torbert and Wrolstad replace retired referees Scott Green and Ron Winter. Wrolstad has been a long time field judge on

Speculation whirls around new referee hires

NFL will hire from current roster Scott Green and Ron Winter have retired, opening up two slots at the referee position.  The NFL has not hired a referee straight out of college and into the NFL since the 1970 merger, so the two new white hats will come from the current

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

New white hats looking to earn an ‘R’

NFL trying out potential replacements for retiring head referees The NFL is preparing for the inevitable retirement of officiating crew chiefs by conducting trial runs for some promotions in the second preseason weekend. An officiating source said that at least one head referee will retire at the end of the season.