Six football games in 48 - hours! Whew! The games start to blend together. Here are some officiating observations and notes from this weekend. 1. Two alternates The last time an alternate came in to work was in 2007, due to an injury. This week we had two alternates start the game --
Tag: Steve Woods
There are 10 first-time playoff officials on the field this weekend
4 more hired to fill out officials’ roster
Embed from Getty Images  The NFL has hired four more officials due a late shuffle of retirements and front office moves. The new hires, with their most recent college position, are: U -- Steve Woods (Big Ten) L -- Brian Bolinger (Big Ten) B -- Mearl Robinson (Pac 12) L -- Danny Short (ACC) All four officials
More officials in the development pipeline, as NFL expands training program
Embed from Getty Images  29 individuals take part in on-field audition This year, the NFL has accepted 29 developmental officials in its annual preseason training program, up from the 21 slots open in the previous three seasons the program has been run. This practice squad for officials was known as the advanced
NFL announces advanced training program officials
20 officials get the chance to audition for the NFL The NFL has announced its third class of officials in the Advanced Development Program (ADP). These candidates are successful college and Arena Football League officials. The group will work preseason games. Once preseason is over, those officials will return to officiate