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

R Ron Winter retires after 19 seasons

Football Zebras exclusive Football Zebras has learned that Ron Winter will not be returning for the 2014 season, according to several sources. Winter is the sixth official to retire at the conclusion of the 2013 season and the second from the referee position. Those six retiring officials all worked in the final

Boger, Carey, Parry out of playoffs

In an attempt to narrow down potential assignments, Football Zebras has learned from multiple sources that last year's Super Bowl referee, Jerome Boger, did not receive a playoff assignment this season. Also not receiving an assignment are Mike Carey and John Parry. Missing the playoffs the year following a Super Bowl

Float like a butterfly…dodge like a ref

How NFL officials stay out of the way to preserve life and limb We've all seen it.  For the fans it is a funny sight but for anyone who has been knocked down by a football player always cringes when a football official gets knocked down.  The officials do not wear

Week 5 remainders

We have some leftover items from Week 5, so let's serve them up before their expiration dates pass. Bengals lost timeout Prior to a Bengals 3rd-and-goal situation, the crew stopped the clock for a game clock adjustment. When the game clock was stopped, and additional three seconds ticked off the play clock,

The eyes have it

Officials double check with each other on tight and routine calls NFL officials each have a specific area and specific player or players to watch during each play.  But do you know that officials also watch each other during a play?  The glance may be a few hundredths of a second,

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