50 Super Bowl calls, Part 4: XX to XI

The Football Zebras staff -- with the assistance of our affiliated forum, Behind the Football Stripes -- has examined the Super Bowls of years past for the work of the officials who, in a given year, achieve the honor of the best of the best. While every team competes for

When officials’ jobs are on the (goal) line

Officials, especially the line judge and head linesman, always work to get the forward progress spot. In order to do so, they are taught to trail the play by a few yards and then square up once the ball is dead. But, when a big progress spot is important, the

6 observations from Super Bowl XLVIII

McAulay crew handles first dud Super Bowl in 10 years Well, this year's Super Bowl will not go down as a classic in terms of excitement, but the Seahawks' defensive performance will be talked about for a long time.  Peyton Manning's future and legacy (rightly or wrongly) will be hot topics

Safety calls, roughness on QB: Roundtable reviews Week 5 calls

Football Zebras Roundtable We had a few calls this week that were borderline judgement calls. How close were they? Former NFL officiating supervisors Jim Daopoulos and Larry Upson helped us unpack three controversial calls from Week 5. Both Larry and Jim did extensive game video while working in the league office.

Crews need to work together, get it right

  Football is one of the most team-oriented games in the world.  It is a joy to watch a team function on the field as a well-oiled machine as they work to win the game.  The seven-person third team on the field must also function as a well-oiled machine to give

Quick calls: Week 1

Did you see a call in the kickoff weekend that needs our attention? Let us know in the comments or tweet us @footballzebras. We have the week 1 assignments and the crew lists available for your review. 7761