3 NFL officials have retired so far

Retiring officials sometimes leave their shoes on the field after their last game. Football Zebras has learned that officials Ruben Fowler, Tom Symonette and Bart Longson will not return to the National Football League in the 2021 season. Typically, the NFL does not announce why an official leaves the league, although

Carl Cheffers heads Hall of Fame game crew

View image | gettyimages.com The fiftieth season of the Super Bowl era and the ninety-sixth in league history begins Sunday from the place where the seed was first planted -- Canton, Ohio. Culminating the enshrinement festivities of the 2015 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday will be the

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

Referee assignments for Divisional round: Blakeman, Cheffers, McAulay, Morelli

Updated Friday, Jan. 10 to include full crews Football Zebras has confirmed the officiating crews for the Divisional Playoffs. Officials are listed with their uniform number, years experience (including this season), the crew each official worked with in the regular season (by the referee's name), college, and outside occupation. All times are Eastern. Three

Missed illegal formation affects playoff fates

Week 17: Chiefs at Chargers (video) Update: NFL statement issued Monday morning appears at the bottom of this post. The Chiefs missed a three-pointer at the end of regulation. The officials missed the seven players on one side of the defensive formation. Those misses were felt in Pittsburgh, as it had ramifications on their

Week 3 open forum, assignments

Use the comments area or hit us on Twitter (@footballzebras) for any questionable calls in Week 3. We will be tied up today, so check back later for our quick takes. Referee assignments are after the jump. Quick calls Things at Zebra Blog headquarters didn't allow us for updates today. I got caught