Wild Card Weekend
Cincinnati at Houston – Clete Blakeman (with Green’s U)
Pittsburgh at Denver – Ron Winter (with Hochuli’s U and SJ)
Detroit at New Orleans – Tony Corrente (with Carey’s U)
Atlanta at NY Giants – Carl Cheffers (with Triplette’s HL and Coleman’s FJ)
Divisional Playoffs
Denver at New England – Gene Steratore (with Boger’s SJ)
Houston at Baltimore – Pete Morelli (with Anderson’s LJ and SJ)
NY Giants at Green Bay – Bill Leavy (with Triplette’s U, Green’s SJ and BJ)
New Orleans at San Francisco – John Parry (with Anderson’s BJ)
Conference Championships
Baltimore at New England – Al Riveron
NY Giants at San Francisco – Ed Hochuli
Pro Bowl
R- Walt Coleman U- Butch Hannah HL- Steve Stelljes LJ- Jeff Bergman FJ- Doug Rosenbaum SJ- Michael Banks BJ- Steve Freeman ALT- Greg Bradley
Super Bowl
New England vs. NY Giants – John Parry
My top 8 for the playoffs (in no order):
Leavy, Hochuli, Steratore, Parry, Carey, McAulay, Anderson, Triplette… I would have Corrente in here, but given his health I doubt he’ll be selected.
My picks by crews not just white cap for playoffs no particular order.
Anderson, Steratore, Parry, Leavy, McAulay, Corrente, Morelli, Riveron, Carey, Hochuli
My picks
Anderson, Carey, Hochuli, Leavy, McAulay,Morelli, Steratore, Parry
I just want to see Triplette in the Super Bowl.
There’s no realistic chance that happens, at least this year.
Or any other year, lets hope !!!
I can’t imagine why. I was being facetious, by the way. 🙂
Good one James. That would be funny and an embarrassment. Jeff is so terrible. The one good game he had was the Ravens-Browns game. Maybe for the Pro Bowl, since no one cares about it. I sure don’t.
What about Riveron??
hasn’t been a WH long enough, and I’m not sure as a LJ he worked a CC or not…
Kenneth, He (Riveron)was a SJ before WH. He worked 2 divisional as SJ.Last year was the R for a divisional game in Chicago.
but you can’t work the SB until you’ve worked a CC at any position. That’s fine if he has worked divisional or WC assignments, but until he refs a CC at any position, and has been a white hat for 5 years, he cannot work the SB
no doubt in my mind,
clete blakeman is the best offical in the nfl,
i’m also a fan of triplette,
Steratore for the Super Bowl!
Got to consider total crew work not just head ref for playoffs but as for the regular season my vote is best job at crew chief was Steratore
Can confirm with announcers thru Cbs late game in Clevland Al Riverons WHOLE crew has earned post season work didnt say where though 🙂
They may very well have a game, but there’s no possible way that those announcers were stating fact – not even the league has determined postseason assignments. How could the announcers know?
Preth the commentators from the games always meet with the crews the day before the actual games so I take them at there word when they say that crew recieved all postseason work 🙂
I’m guessing you misheard them.
Bronson, Mike Pereira said that the NFL does not inform the officials if they will work the playoffs until Tuesday/Wednesday of this week because they have to review and grade their performance. Riveron and crew may work in the postseason, however they could not know that until this week.
and im telling you what the commentators said as a Foul occurd in the 2nd half they said The whole riveron crew had postseason work U all can listen yourselfs and no preth my hearing works fine no need to emply i dont pay attention I was fully paying mind to it and heard it 🙂
Again, Bronson, that’s a complete and utter impossibility. I have no idea what they said and have no simple means of finding out. Perhaps they were giving their opinion, perhaps they were talking about Riveron’s playoff assignment last year, perhaps you misheard them.
I watched the Browns-Steelers game too, and I can also confirm that I heard the announcers say that Riveron and his whole crew got a postseason assignment. I am 100% sure that they said that. Bronson did not mishear them. That is what they said. We will see if turns out to be true.
Okay, I got my hands on a tape of the PIT@CLE game. With 14:49 remaining in the 4th quarter, the play-by-play announcer said,
“Last season, every member of his crew was awarded with a postseason assignment.”
Should know all the crews on Wild Card Weekend by sometime Tuesday.
Correntes crew worked a horrible game today in Cincinnati, particuarly his 3 deep officials. Several blatant calls were blown in the secondary. If it were based on today, I wouldnt give that crew any games, but the crew had a decent year, and Corrente is a solid R. Feel like Steratore, Cary, McAulay, Leavy, Winter, and Blakeman crews had the best year. Feel like Greens crew, Hochulis crew and Riverons crew also a decent job.
Also feel like Steratore is due for a Super Bowl and feel like he hasnt done anything bad enough to screw that up this year. Also feel like he has to be rated within the top 3 of his position. I really hope that Riveron SJ, Jimmy Debell gets selected to work SJ in the Super Bowl, because he has done a great job. We shall see though.
We aren’t expecting G. Steratore to be in the running for the Super Bowl assignment, unfortunately.
Hopefully his crew at least gets a CC then. Has Steratore done a CC yet?
He worked the 2005 AFC game as a FJ.
CC isn’t done by crew, but #2 and #3 at each position
I agree. Ron Winter has had a great year, I think the referees in the secondary were very good. Especially #97 Tom Hill!
Would be great if they put both Steratores on the SB…lol
Then whos in the running for a superbowl we need someone new for a change to get the Sb
As long as Boger or Morelli dont get it, then Im just about fine with any other selection
I like Andersons HL Stelljes and Blakemans BJ Miles also for this year SB, but I have no idea if they are eligible or not.
It used to be that the Super Bowl ref came exclusively from Wild Card Weekend, but that hasn’t been the case for the last couple of years, if memory serves…
Gotta strong feeling Morelli will do the SB.
I agree! I know he missed the facemask on Tebow yesterday, but I think MOrelli has been the best white hat this year.
Morelli is no where close to being the best white hat this year. I would actually put him near the bottom half of the list. If he gets a Super Bowl, that would be disappointing to say the least. He misses things right in front of him all the time, not just yesterday.
Your perceptions of officials and the quality of officiating seem to be a bit off. Heading into Week 17, Morelli was reportedly one of the frontrunners for the big game.
I just go by the games I watch him on. I have never been impressed with any thing that he has done. Not just looking obvious things, but breaking down several different aspects of overall football officiating, Morelli just never has impressed me. Maybe the NFL officiating Assoc or whatever they call it, may think otherwise, but that is just my opinion
Don’t take me the wrong way, I respect your opinion. I just worry that, the way you are judging officials (both in the good and bad ways), you are in for regular disappointment.
Perth
How do you know so much about all this stuff…did you used to officiate in the NFL or work for the NFL Officials ASSOC or something? Just curious.
I actually thought Triplette and his crew were one of the better ones this year, still not sure if he’s in line for the SB. I also thought Steretore and Hochuli were good this year. I like Carey too, but thought his crew overall wasn’t one of the best.
I agree. I’ve been saying that for a while on here. Don’t think he deserves the Super Bowl, but I wouldn’t be offended if he got a CC.
I believe the top three referees and their crews are Carey, Hochuli, and triplette in no particular order. These refs do not only call a good game, but they are very articulate and concise when explaining an infraction.
Now, I cannot say the same about some of these refs you guys purported to be good. Some of them do not speak clearly and have difficulty explaining themselves and or too wordy.
There are many different aspects to officating. True, one of those aspects is the quality of their mic work. However, that one’s pretty low on the list of importance.
Preth,
I would agree there are more important aspects than mic work, but “pretty low”. Traditionally those with the best articulations and mic work which as an official I would consider rules interpretations such as McAuley and Steratore get the prime assignments. Just my thoughts.
Well, first we’d need to define which officials have good articulation. Even if we were to agree on that – and it appears we don’t – Steratore isn’t an example to take that side of the debate, having never done anything more prominent than a DIV game at R.
I have to agree with the comments regarding Steratore. He and his crew are certainly one of the better ones. I was at the Houston/Buffalo game in 09 when Steratore was the ref. Superb job during the game. I always make it a habit of checking into Steratore’s games every week whenever I can. I thought his crew was great yesterday (I only watched the 4th quarter and OT but it was prety intense) I also think Carey, Hochuli, Parry and Triplette and their crews did wonderful jobs this year. There are 2 or 3 crews which I think had terrible years and hope they do not get any playoff assignments, but I am not here to bash referees. I just hope to see the better crews getting the conference championship games. It seems as if most people have the same feelings on here.
Very well said.
Two serious questions for the experts here….
1) Does the fact that Steratore officiates college basketball impact his opportunity to get a SB? IMO, I think he is one of the best WH in the NFL but I do know he does a lot of college hoops this time of year?
2) Does the NFL prevent repeat matchups for the playoffs. For example, Hochuli had Texans at Bengals in Week 14. Does this make him ineligble for the rematch on Saturday?
1. The Big East is aware of Steratore’s NFL obligations, and coordinates with the NFL to avoid scheduling conflicts. If the NFL wanted to put him in charge of the Super Bowl, I’m sure there would be no conflict.
2. Sometimes. There are four games in each of the first two rounds, so they’ll avoid repeat matchups there. However, that’s not always possible in the CC and Super Bowl. The most recent example is when Mike Carey worked the NE-NYG Super Bowl after working their Week 17 game.
I guess Steratore works several college conferences besides the Big East. You get the idea, anyway.
Last year Al Riveron worked the regular season game Seattle at Chicago then he did the playoff game Seattle at Chicago
Ooh, I forgot all about that. Thank you very much, Gerry!
So, if I may revise my answer, I suppose it’s absolutely possible for Hochuli to work the rematch this weekend.
It would be nice to see Ed Hochuli and his monster biceps in the super bowl considering he hasnt worked on in awhile..
Hi Mickey and Preth:
FYI, remember, there are 12 games in the post season. The last year,
12 Referees lead the games (from wild cards to Superbowl) and the rest, (4 referees) were named as alternate referees in some games.
Nobody repeat as Referee in a game or as an alternate. Only Clete
Blakeman hadn’t any commision. I guess this year will be similar in all nominations.
Preth, BREAKING news in Chicago..
Bears GM Jerry Angelo has been fired & OC Mike Martz has resigned per “The Score” 670 radio. Not that this pertains to referee assignments, but I’ll report it anyway.
So long as this site doesn’t become cluttered with breaking news, I’m okay with it. 🙂
Interesting that the Bears made those particular moves but are keeping Lovie Smith. Not that I’m an expert on their specific situation.
I guess since there is criteria on who can and cannot work the SB, are there any officials which we can asbolutely rule out right now? Cheffers and Blakeman are obvious, but any otherS?
I believe that I read that the listings of the referee assignments for the playoffs was to come out today (Tuesday)…is that true? If so, will the listing only be round by round or for all (but the SB) games?
The first listings (besides CIN/HOU) will probably go up tomorrow afternoon/evening. The listings will probably just be the WC games for starters.
First update……the highly officialest beat writer in all of football land places Carl Cheffers in Houston for the Bengals-Texans game.
I appreciate it Scott, but there’s no need to go nuts looking for postseason assignments. Everything should be posted tomorrow. 🙂
I’m only concerned about who is doing the Bengals games! WHO DEY!
Interestingly enough, the Broncos have posted the flip card but it contains zero information about whom the officials are. I thought perhaps that may be listed in the media notes and just not repeated on the card, but alas, nothing there either. Seems a tad strange to me, but what are you gonna do?
Obviously, I’m referring to the Steelers at Broncos assignment.
Maybe the Steelers are bringing their own officials. Haha, I kid, I kid.
Wouldn’t think Boger would get any playoff games. He’s made some very questionable Roughing the Passer calls in recent weeks.
On a random note, Gene Steratore was one of the officials in the Michigan State/Wisconsin basketball game today, with the controversial finish.
What was so controversial about it? It was an easy call, the player didnt get the ball off in time and they made the correct call. In fact, it wasn’t even close.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I completely agree the correct was was made, but it was still a controversial finish.
The discrepancy between the shot clock and banner clock I would say is controversial.
Just some predictions:
Wild Card games: Cheffers, Steratore, Winter, Anderson
Divisional games: Parry, Riveron, Hochuli, Carey
Conf. Championships: Morelli, Leavy
Super Bowl: McAulay
Lets not forget that just because a white hat is assigned to a playoff game, his entire CREW does not get assigned to the same playoff game. Each position is graded out and assigend playoff games ranked by their calls and NOT with their regular white hat.
For example, if Cheffers has been assigned to the Cincy-Houston game, his regular crew WILL NOT be with him.
All the non white hats deserve recognition as they often make the toughest calls out there!
Not exactly. The first two rounds are officiated by the top 8 CREWS. The only difference are rookie officials and those who are officiating in Conference Championship games do not work in the first two rounds. Cheffers may well be with his crew or he may be substituting for a referee who is officiating in a Conference Championship game (since there are no rookie Referees this year)
Although it is rare — if it has happened at all — an official can be excluded from his regular crew in the postseason if his evaluations/performance are poor enough.
Happened before – usually when Steve Wilson was on a crew that finished on the Top 8. That was a rarity since he was so bad that he was rarely on crews that made the Top 8
Looks like the HL and FJ in Cheffers crew did not get assignments with their regular crew….
The FJ of Cheffers crew is Jimmy Buchannan. He is technically in his third season as an official but missed the 2009 and 2010 seasons due to injuries. He was considered a rookie this year thus making him ineligible. The HL Kent Payne most likely will have a Conference Championship assignment. He worked the Super Bowl last season and consistently rates out as one of the top HL.
So if an official is not working with his normal crew the first two week, he is either a) a rookie, b) going to work a CC or SB or c) did not qualify due to ratings.
@Sonofanump: or (d) injured or had a late-season injury. As for (b), sometimes a Super Bowl official will work a 1st- or 2nd-round playoff game, but CC officials work no other games.
Does anyone out there think Riveron and crew will receive a post assignment?
It’s hard to say. He’s got a shot at a DIV round game, but probably nothing later.
Wildcard assignments belong to Cheffers, Winter, Corrente and Blakeman. Credit for the three we didn’t already know goes to admin Mark at BTFS.
I’ll update the list when I know which is which game.
First off, I thought the quality of officiating this year was very good across the board.
Happy to see Blakeman in the postseason. I think he has done a very good job his first 2 years and has always called Titans games well. Despite the detractors, I think the Professor also had a good season. Winter’s crew did a very good job on Titans/Texans last week.
For what it’s worth, my Super Bowl pick would be Mike Carey.
I feel that Walt Colman is due for a SB assignment.
Correction: the CIN@HOU game is Clete Blakeman. Carl Cheffers has ATL@NYG.
Not sure why Joe Reedy got it wrong. It did seem like he learned of that assignment awfully early. He’s normally very reliable, so I won’t hold it against him – he was right about Cheffers having an assignment, at the least.
This is Clete Blakeman’s first-ever post-season officiating assignment.
Sorry for the wrong information on Cheffers. I guess no on can bat 1.000.
This is still normal crews right?
Seems strange that Corrente’s crew (which is certainly deserving under normal circumstances) gets an assignment since he is still out. Does that mean the crew is there led by someone else or is he back?
It sounds like he will be working the game personally.
Corrente worked the last two games of the regular season with his crew.
He’s been back for 2 weeks now. Maybe while he is in nawlins hell shed some light on the sugar bowl mishap from Stricherz and co
Ok. Thanks – sorry for the confusion.
Interesting that all four crews for the Wild Card Weekend did not have playoff assignments last year (recognizing that Blakeman was not eligible).
FYI: Carl Cheffers was the alt. referee in the Divisional Championship game Ravens @ Steelers,; Ron Winter was the alt. referee in the Conference Championship game Jets @ Steelers; Tony Corrente was the referee in the Pro Bowl Game in Hawaii. Clete Blakeman was in his first year as Referee. I can tell you that, even as Alternate Referee, is a privilege for them, be there.
Being a Falcons fan, I check this website each and every week to see who my Birds will have in the WH. Glad to see we will have Carl Cheffers for our game in NY on Sunday. He only worked one regular season game for ATL, and that was in week 2 against the Eagles. He didn’t work any NYG games this year. Best of luck to all the crews this week and the rest of the postseason.
Hi Mickey and Preth:
I´ve just received a mail confirming that the Carl Cheffers´crew
will be next Sunday in New York (Atlanta Falcons @ New York Giants)
Watching all the Giants games this year, the only referees that I felt did a poor job on our games were Triplette (Green Bay) and Morelli (NY Jets). Good to see Cheffers get our game, because he is a pretty good ref too. Coleman surprisingly didn’t get one of our games this year (and fortunately, because I think he is Tom Coughlin’s least favorite ref).
Overall, best crews were Steratore (he should get the Bowl this year as long as the Steelers aren’t playing in it), McAulay, Green, Parry, and surprisingly, Anderson (not one of my favorites). Hochuli and Carey are always two of the best but I felt like they had down years.
Walt Coleman is due!
Is it likely to assume Green, Hochuli, Coleman, Triplette, and Carey will not have a divisional assignment since members of their crews are working the wildcard? If no please explain… thanks!
The only way they will get an onfield assignment is if they are filling in for a Referee who is working a conference championship or if they themselves work a conference championship. They would not get an assignment with their crew.
Correct. We are currently anticipating that the Div. round will most likely be based off four of the following six crews:
Anderson, Boger, Leavy, Morelli, Parry, Steratore
With extra-high probability that Morelli and Parry are two of those.
It is still quite possible. Last year, 3 from Hochuli’s crew advanced to the conference championship and a fourth was a rookie (and thus ineligible). The remaining 3 served in the divisional under a Frankensteined crew headed by Jeff Triplette. Members of Triplette’s crew officiated elsewhere the first two rounds, two a piece.
But it seems like four, if not all five, of them will be out for the divisionals. Also out would be Terry McAuley, who is an alternate for the Wild Card.
For the sake of getting names of the crew members in each game.
Bengals@Texans:
Referee- Clete Blakeman
Umpire- Bruce Stritesky (Green)
HL- Tony Veteri (Blakeman)
LJ- Jeff Seeman (Blakeman)
SJ- Greg Meyer (Blakeman)
BJ- Terrance Miles (Blakeman)
FJ- Buddy Horton (Blakeman)
ALT LJ- Tom Barnes (Green)
ALT BJ- Lee Dyer (McAulay)
Lions@Saints:
Referee- Tony Corrente
Umpire- Chad Brown (Carey)
HL- John McGrath (Corrente)
LJ- Darryl Lewis (Corrente)
SJ- Allen Baynes (Corrente)
BJ- Greg Wilson (Corrente)
FJ- Gary Cavaletto (Corrente)
ALT Referee- Terry McAulay
ALT SJ- Dave Wyant (Triplette)
Falcons@Giants:
Referee- Carl Cheffers
Umpire- Undrey Wash (Cheffers)
HL- Phil McKinnley (Triplette)
LJ- Tom Symonette (Cheffers)
SJ- Laird Hayes (Cheffers)
BJ- Todd Prukop (Cheffers)
FJ- Greg Gautreaux (Coleman)
ALT Umpire- Scott Dawson (Riveron)
ALT LJ- Mark Steinkerchner (McAulay)
Steelers@Broncos:
Referee- Ron Winter
Umpire- Richard Hall (Hochuli)
HL- Julian Mapp (Winter)
LJ- Gary Arthur (Winter)
SJ- Ron Torbert (Hochuli)
BJ- Richard Reels (Winter)
FJ- Scott Steenson (Winter)
ALT HL- Ed Camp (Coleman)
ALT FJ- Dyrol Prioleau (Green)
Russ:
Thanks for your info. Please, if you know it, tells us who are the replay an video op. in each game. Thanks in advance.
Blakeman will have his own RA and VO, Creed and Tracy.
Corrente will have McAulay’s RA, Frantz.
Sunday’s Replay Officials:
ATL@NYG- Larry Nemmers (Cheffers)
PIT@DEN- Carl Madsen (Green)
Preth and Russ: Very thanks for your information. Hope you give us the same in the next crews. Thanks in advence.
Sorry for the dumb question (which is likely answered in the chain above anyway), but are the ‘odd’ crew members (members of other crews but working this game with another crew) there becuase the other officials are rookies or ineligible?
ken,
Officials are subbed out based on (a) rookie status including, in one case, a 3rd year official who didn’t have a full season under his belt, (b) receiving a Conference Championship assignment, (c) having a poor performance rating/evaluation compared with the rest of your crew, or (d) injury or not fully recovered from an injury.
Does anyone think that Walt Coleman has a shot for the SB? He has been a referee for a while and was an alternate at a previous SB.
Was the alternate in Arizona for NY/NE. He won’t get the Super Bowl this year.
You notice the past several years…. The Super Bowl Referee did not work the WC, Div, or CC. I just think that the NFL Officiating office is giving others a chance to work a Playoff game.
Becky — trend only stopped when MP stepped down and CJ came in…Corrente 06-07 Carey 07-08, McAulay 08-09 and Green 09-11 both had WC or Div game. Only last year for 10-11 did Anderson not have a game
That is correct! I really hope that Pete Morelli gets the Super Bowl this year.
Steelers better hope this game isn’t close because this has the makings of a Winter classic. No pun intended.
Pitt has done pretty good with Winter and his crew……It’s Balti that hasn’t done to well with him.
Future NFL officials coming soon.Frank Steratore younger brother of Gene worked the Cotton Bowl last night. And Shawn Hochuli who will be working the National Championship(Big 12 officials) game Monday night.
@Sal Martino>>> ur source on Shawn Hochuli as Ref in BCS Bowl on Monday????? U might want to ck them….. that is not right!
According to Multiple Sources the BCS National Title Game is being worked by Scott Novak and crew.
Actually I believe Frank is the cousin of Gene and Tony
Actually isn’t Shawn Hochuli a white hat in the Pac-12?
Yes
Very impressed by the job Clete Blakeman and crew did tonight. Overall, I thought it was a very well officiated game.
Sporting Becky-Shawn will be the BJ and is part of Novak crew. The game will be officiated by Big 12 conference. He is a white hat for arena football.
Sal Martino……. Mike Pereira recruited Shawn Hochuli last yr from the BIG XII…. so for 2012 Shawn Hochuli is a PAC-12 White Hat…..He WAS a BJ in BIG XII for many yrs.
As for Arena Football.. yes Shawn Hochuli is a White Hat Referee there too.
Never question Becky on All-Things Hochuli 😀
LOL!!!! Kenneth :D….. Especially when Shawn Hochuli emails me & I know his Umpire Friend that worked with him in BIG XII & Arena Football (Arena 1 & Arena 2)… 🙂
I beg to differ…..
What do u mean beg the differ? At least I take the high road and do not bash you on this site…
I don’t bash you on here. Just cause I disagree with something doesn’t mean I’m bashing anyone.
I disagree!
Yeah that’s correct. Shawn Hochuli was hired by the PAC-12 this year as a referee. So can you work a game with a crew from a different conference?
no. There is a 0% chance Hochuli is working tommorow.
Scott Novak of the Big 12 is definitely on the title game. Hochuli is in the Pac-12.
Nice job by the first game crew. Denver well represented this weekend with Miles as BJ in Houston and Novak on Monday night.
Thanks for the info.
Though, with 2 SEC teams in the title game, would it have been possible if an SEC crew worked the game?
Late crew not doing nearly as well. They killed the Lions with the inadvertent whistle and then spurred a Saints touchdown drive with an awful spot on the Colston catch on 3rd down at his own 18, which should have turned into a punting situation.
Agree completely.
I thought Clete Blakeman and his crew did a nice job in the Texans/Bengals game. He’s definitely going to be a referee to watch in the coming years.
Unfortunately, a pretty major botch by Tony Corrente and crew in the Saints/Lions game, on the fumble recovery by the Lions that should have been a TD, that was ruled a dead ball cause the whistle was blown too early. That was a big turning point in the game. Although, with the Saints putting up 45 points, it ended up not really mattering in the grand scheme of things.
How can you say that it would have been a touchdown? The whistle had blown and every Saints player had stopped running.
Robert Meachem was standing 5 yards from the recovery not moving. Anyway I think the officials do an excellent job. You have to remember their calls are at real speed not super slomo.
Thanks SportingBecky for the correction about Shawn! Does anybody feel that Riveron will work this upcoming week?
Only if he is replacing an official who has a conference championship assignment since his U Scott Dawson is an alternate this weekend
@Sal Martino.. you are very welcome!!!!
How was it possibly for Drew Brees to run the clock out when he knelt the ball on 4 and 4 with 38 seconds left? Shouldn’t it have been Detroits ball at that point, since it was 4th down?
Yes, but it doesn’t really matter. Did us all the favor of not having to sit through another minute of inconsequential play.
Thanks. I completely agree it didn’t mean anything and got the game over quicker, but I didn’t know how it was possible.
I asked a friend of mine in the NFL Officiating office if he knew if R-85 Hochuli either has a Conf Champ Game or Super Bowl 46 game…..
He said….. Ed had a very good season. Stay tuned!
Blakeman and crew I must say did an excellent job calling the cb vs. ht game this weekend.
I hope Ed, Triplette, and Carey are awarded with a Conference and or the Superbowl assignment. These WHs did a very good job during the reg. season. I would not mind seeing Triplette working the big show.
EaWalt Anderson isn’t elligible for theSB since he was the referee at the SB in 2011.
He’s eligible. It’s not likely that he’ll get it, but there is no rule that says he cant. It’s happened before that a referee worked consecutive games… (Tunney as R and Sifferman as LJ-3x)
All this Ed Hercules talk is funny. He loves being in the spotlight and sometimes that hurts his ability to correctly call a game.
Awesome job and terrific site guys. Thanks for your work here. I hope you can expand things to include refereeing trends in the future.
Thanks.
I am not sure if one holding was called during the whole game, A face mask or two may have been missed. Harrison was called for a very questionable RTP penalty, and the premature whistle and ruling of an incomplete pass on the lateral to Wallace was unfortunate. But the game was great and by no means did Winter and crew ruin it.
Is it possible for Houston to get Blakeman again this week against Baltimore? I thought they did a great job.
Jackhappy, I don’t think a ref can work two straight postseason weekends. I’ll try to tap my usual ref source for HOU-BAL… but you are correct, I liked Blakeman’s work this weekend…
Thanks a ton, any insight or even speculation on who might get the nod for Houston @ Baltimore would be appreciated.
We are currently anticipating that the Div. round will most likely be based off four of the following six crews:
Anderson, Boger, Leavy, Morelli, Parry, Steratore
With extra-high probability that Morelli and Parry are two of those.
Blakeman will not be working another game this postseason.
Hey Jackhappy,
Not to my knowledge has a referee ever worked back to back games in the playoffs… Refs have only worked twice if they had their crew (WC or Div weekend with one or two potential replacements) and then again if they earned the SB…as was the trend pre-Carl Johnson. I believe Clete will be done for the season unless he is an alternate for the CC or the SB, which I doubt will happen…
as for insight on who will work the Hou-Balt game, it’s most likely one of the following crews, as none of them worked last weekend, and none of the individuals from any of these crews were alternates or repalcements:
Anderson, Leavy, Boger, Steratore, Morelli and Parry.
The remaining 7 crews (Carey, Coleman, Green, Hochuli, Riveron, Triplette and McAulay were all used in some form for Wildcard weekendand thus highly unlikely to work at all except in individual replacement or CC/SB assignments.
Hope this helps and isn’t too confusing
Morelli? I hope we don’t get him… I’m still baffled at the Week 16 Jets/Giants overturned fumble call. It was the play where the runner’s elbow hit the defender’s foot, jarring the ball loose. They called it a fumble on the field, and despite the lack of “conclusive” video evidence, they still chose to overrule it and call the runner down by contact. That call scared me, showing me that they can choose to enforce their will if they want to. Morelli would have been responsible for the final call on that, right?
Yes, the R has the final call. I didn’t see that play, but I wouldn’t be so quick to assume the call wasn’t correct. The views shown on TV are not always the comprehensive array of views available to the review team. Also, having not seen the play myself, I cannot rule out that there was indeed enough shown video evidence to overturn the original call.
Ah, interesting… I never knew that the officials have additional cameras that are not available to the networks. I’m not sure that I agree with that approach, I think that they ought to be as transparent as possible.
No, not additional cameras – I’m saying that the network doesn’t always show all the views.
Ah, then I do question his judgement. It was a lengthy delay and they showed 3-4 looks at it. The question was whether the tip of the elbow hit the turf and there was nothing that was even close to conclusive in any of the shots. That’s my impartial take on it, I’m a Texans fan so I didn’t about the outcome. I certainly don’t want that crew for our game this week, unless they are going to make mistakes in our favor 😉
Found a guy that commented on it here: http://insidefootball.com/blog/archives/3540
“On the fumble call that was run in by Aaron Ross, the question was obviously whether the receiver’s elbow touched the ground or landed on the Giants players foot. Personally, I could not see enough to overturn the call on the field which would have resulted in a Giants touchdown. It may have been that Referee Pete Morelli felt that the elbow hit both the foot and the ground before the ball came out, but I did not feel that there was indisputable evidence to make that call.”
Here’s the best video I could find, they even bring in Pirera and talk to him about it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b93u-sP3DFs
Where can I find the grades for Morelli and his crew for that game?
Yeah, very much a judgment call there. I can understand both why Morelli reversed the call, and why you feel he shouldn’t have. I don’t believe the league gave him bad marks for that call.
Officiating grades aren’t public.
What is the chance that Gene Stertatore get a shot a championship game or even the Superbowl? The guy seems to have had a great season. Jeff Triplette shouldn’t be allowed within 100 miles of Indy…
Very small chance. However, there’s a good chance he’s got a DIV round game next weekend. Stay tuned.
Why the small chance (just asking for knowledge)…tenure as a ref (in terms of years) or that crews need to work together if they are in the top 8? I would say that Steratore (and his crew)were a top 3 unit this year (Hochuli and Leavy’s groups rounding out that trio) so he should (theoretically) be in line for a game next week or for the SB?
Steratore is entirely eligible to work a CC or SB, where crews are made up of the top three rated officials at each position, because he’s been a white hat for five years. However, he was downgraded personally at least twice for major regular season mistakes.
SB’s pretty much out of the question. CC is possible, but not all that likely.
Bill Carrolo worked back-to-back playoff weekends in January 2005. He did Patriots-Colts divisional game, then was on Eagles-Falcons in the NFC title game the next week.
Not sure how many get Peter King’s weekly MMQB email, but he had a GREAT story about Tony Corrente and everything he has been through over the past season. A must read for everyone on this board.
Thank you for posting this–the article was a really powerful piece about an official whom I greatly respect but didn’t know much about (apart from being a California high school social studies teacher). My best of luck to Corrente and I hope to see him back in uniform next season, or at least some point in the future.
Why was Tom Hill (#97) replaced on Winter’s crew . Will he get a later game? thanks
I don’t know why he was replaced. I don’t think he’s injured/sick, so that leaves two possibilities – he had a very poor rating, or he was one of the top three SJs and will be working a CC or the Super Bowl.
Great article. Best of Luck to Corrente.
I hope Hochuli ends up in Green Bay and I hope Leavy ends up in San Fran
I rather see Hochuli in San Fran and Leavy in “The Frozen Tundra”.
Looks Like Leavy will be in the Tundra..LOL
Steratore will NOT be in Baltimore this weekend. His assignment will be announced wednesday but Baltimore is out.
Why not?
Gene Steratore will be in New England this weekend.
Source? Not even teams have been told of the upcoming officiating assignments.
You were right. Thanks! 🙂
General Rule Question: After the snap, if a DB tackles a WR at the line of scrimage and holds him down to the ground for an extended period of time, would anything be called other than a 5-yard defensive holding penalty?
No – but the penalty also includes an automatic first down (but only if there’s a forward pass – AFAIK)
Thanks Kasper!
There doesn’t have to be a FP. If the QB gets sacked or if he ends up having to run because there were no receivers open then DEf Holding will still be called and tacked onto the run if there was a gain. Plus an AFD
I am in the neighboring town of the Steratore’s and word gets around here. Baltimore is out/
I’d like to see Ed Hochuli or Mike Carey do the Giants/Packers game. Those guys are the two best in the game, in my opinion. And I’d like to see an experienced ref at the helm. I wasn’t thrilled with the job that Carl Cheffers and his crew did in the Giants/Falcons game, to say the least.
But Preth said that it will likely come from the group of Anderson, Boger, Leavy, Morelli, Parry, or Steratore, and out of that group, I would hope for Anderson, Parry, or Steratore.
It’ll only be Carey or Hochuli if they are heading up a CC referee’s crew. Both of them had crew members used as replacements or alternates, which should eliminate the rest of their crew from assignment. From what Becky’s contact said, I’d look for Ed in one of the three big games. Carey may just be an alternate this season, or work the Pro Bowl
Referee’s this week are Morelli, Steratore, Leavy and Parry For Div. round games…….2012
AHHH!!!!! Exactly who I didn’t want: Morelli
If someone’s going to get screwed, it better be Baltimore!
I think you’ll find that he’s superb. You have one call in mind that he may have erred on, but he and his crew are one of the best and I felt he was deserving of the superbowl. Get back to us after the game, and even if Houston loses, be fair ;D
They made 4-5 really bad calls in that Week 16 game, but I haven’t evaluated any other games that he’s done, so I obviously have a limited view of things. You’re right, I ought to give him a fair shot. Forgive my emotion, it hasn’t been Playoff Time in Houston for a LONG LONG time =)
I’m usually pretty good about not being a homer when it comes to evaluating the refs, and I generally scrutinize calls that even go the Texans way, so I’ll make a list of the ones that I have issues with. Hopefully a short one…
This may be too specific a question, but how is he regarding hits to the QB? Our defense has gotten a quite a few of ticky tack calls for hitting the QB in the head/neck or hitting the QB low after getting pushed to the ground by a defender.
Just about all defenses with a decent pass rush have been hit with a few of those calls. Like it or not, all the R’s have been told to err on the side of caution regarding QB contact, particularly to the head & neck.
Looks like Morelli did the week 6 OAK @ HOU game, so I’m going to re-watch it and post my thoughts/grades.
My observations on the job that Morelli did in the HOU/OAK game in Week 6:
There were no ticky-tack calls on hitting the QB when those opportunities arose. The game was called in HOU’s favor: I counted 3 very weak (if not bad) calls on OAK, a missed intentional grounding on HOU, a missed defensive holding on OAK, and a missed PI on OAK. 2 of the weak/bad calls on Oakland negated big 20+ yard plays.
Overall I would have given them a B+ to A- rating. Pretty good job.
Wouldn’t be the first time the RAVENS GET SCREWED in a big game !!! But I don’t expect a close game anyway !!! Ravens blow them out !!!
It’s looking more and more like Triplette is going to get a Conference Championship game or even the Super Bowl. I thought he had a good year, but I guess we’ll see how good.
or he’ll get shut out completely or get the pro bowl is more likely. . .
True, I thought he deserved a playoff game, but the pro-bowl might be fitting.
Triplette doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near the playoffs this year. He had some downright awful games including GB/NYG and NE/WAS. It is telling when the league doesn’t bother to come to the defense of Triplette when Tom Coughlin and the New York media is saying there is photographic proof that Triplette tanked some major calls
Michael, you keep coming back to one game with Triplette. The NE/WAS game was not that bad, and he had a solid year overall. I can pick out 1 or 2 bad games for every crew this year, but I defer to Preth who knows far more than I.
How is it decided who refs the Pro Bowl? Is it the step below playoff alternate?
I think it’s just above alternate. It’s an on field assignment, so I would think the 9th crew minus it’s top 3 (if applicable) work it… not sure about any o the selection process for this though…just speculatiopn
The Pro Bowl is assigned to the referee who graded out just outside of the group that had playoff assignments…basically the next highest graded referee (after the ones that got playoff games).
For no other reason than the fact that Morelli and I are both Italian, I welcome his return to Baltimore! :)…. seriously, I’m sure it’ll be a good and fair game…
Joe, Lets hope so !!! !!! !!!
What are the general thoughts on Bill Leavy? He didn’t do any Giants games this year, and I don’t have too much of a feeling on him, other than his well documented issues in the Super Bowl a couple years back. All I can hope for is he calls a solid, fair game on Sunday.
With the divisional out, what’s the speculation for the CC and Super Bowl?
I think Hochuli gets the big game. McAulay and Carey in the CCs.
McAulay has already been an alternate, so he is out…
Didn’t catch that. Wow, he’s done CC or SB six of the past seven seasons, though he wasn’t on the field for a playoff game two years ago.
2005: SB (Patriots-Eagles)
2006: CC (Steelers-Broncos)
2007: CC (Bears-Saints)
2008: CC (Giants-Packers)
2009: SB (Steelers-Cardinals)
2010: Off
2011: CC (Packers-Bears)
where’s Walt Anderson’s crew….didn’t he do the 2010 SB?
FYI, gang:
BAL hasn’t had Morelli all year, but twice in 2010. One of those games was the OT win over BUF, in which the Bills protested that a ball carrier’s forward progress was stopped. Morelli let the play go, Ray Lewis recovered a fumble and BAL got a game-winning FG…
Predictions:
Hochuli and Carey get CC assignments
Triplette gets the SB
Coleman gets the PB
According to people who are usually quite accurate expect Hochuli and one of the Walts in CC and unless something goes terribly wrong on Saturday John Parry in the Super Bowl
I believe their are 17 WHs in the league, What has Parry done that distinguishes himself from the other WHs, and especially Triplette, Ed, and Carey for him to receive a divisional game and the the SB?
I believe Ed was the WH for two SBs and Carey did one, so its is only natural for Triplette to finally receive his turn due to the very good job he did 2011.
Parry has no chance of getting the SB this year
Its either going to be Coleman or Triplette
Frontrunners for the Super Bowl are indeed Parry and Hochuli. Coleman and Morelli have a shot. Anderson has a shot at a CC.
Conference Championships, Super Bowl, and Pro Bowl assignments will all be out on Monday.
In my opinion, Walt Coleman will be selected to Referee this upcoming SB!
Walt Coleman is not SB worthy. Walt Anderson is always consistent and doesn’t play favorites. Triplette had a great year and he is entertaining to say the least.
Triplette was probably one of the two worst referees I saw this year along with Riveron. His officiating in Green Bay @ New York Giants was the worst display of officiating I saw this year and a number of his other games were not much better
Be intelligent and say what made it bad. Blanket statements like worst make sound like someone who has no substance or experience
For some reason my last reply did not stick. I have seen photographic proof that Triplette made a mistake not reversing the out of bounds call on what would have been a Giants TD. Also still do not believe Jennings ever had possession on his TD that was reviewed. On one of Driver’s TD he was forced oob came back in bounds and was the first to touch the ball. A lot of holding on Green Bay’s OL were not called. Forgive my brevity as I am working off an iPad to write this post
Does anyone have a list of officials (crew) working the Divisional Playoffs this weekend? Thanks!
I have already summarized the assignments at the top of the page. In list form, it looks like this:
NY Giants @ Green Bay
R- Bill Leavy 127
U- Jeff Rice 44 (Triplette)
HL- George Hayward 54 (Leavy)
LJ- Mark Perlman 9 (Leavy)
FJ- Jim Quirk 63 (Leavy)
SJ- Larry Rose 128 (Green)
BJ- Scott Helverson 93 (Green)
ALT U- Paul King 121 (McAulay)
ALT FJ- Barry Anderson 20 (Triplette)
Denver @ New England
R- Gene Steratore 114
U- Bill Schuster 129 (Steratore)
HL- Wayne Mackie 106 (Steratore)
LJ- Ron Marinucci 107 (Steratore)
FJ- Bob Waggoner 25 (Steratore)
SJ- Joe Larrew 73 (Boger)
BJ- Dino Paganelli 116 (Steratore)
ALT U – Carl Paganelli 124 (Boger)
ALT BJ- Greg Steed 12 (Riveron)
New Orleans @ San Francisco
R- John Parry 132
U- Dan Ferrell 64 (Parry)
HL- Derick Bowers 74 (Parry)
LJ- Rusty Baynes 59 (Parry)
FJ- Scott Edwards 3 (Parry)
SJ- Keith Washington 7 (Parry)
BJ- Billy Smith 2 (Anderson)
ALT LJ- Mike Spanier 90 (Coleman)
ALT BJ- Kirk Dornan 6 (Carey)
Houston @ Baltimore
R- Pete Morelli 135
U- Ruben Fowler 71 (Morelli)
HL- Mark Baltz 26 (Morelli)
LJ- Byron Boston (Anderson)
FJ- Jon Lucivansky 89 (Morelli)
SJ- James Coleman (Anderson)
BJ- Rob Vernatchi 75 (Morelli)
ALT HL- Dana McKenzie 8 (Carey)
ALT SJ- Rick Patterson 15 (Coleman)
Who are the alternates?
List is edited. For future reference, you can find the base crews for yourself here:
http://www.football-refs.com/nfl-referees-by-season/2011-crews/
Thank you!
To this point in the playoffs, Riveron has had only two crew members working so far and they were alternates. His crew had a tough year!
McAulay has only had alternates as well I think
McAulay’s RA worked the Lions-Saints game. Does that count? 😉
Heres the list of the officials whose crews worked but have not, so either cc/SB or were left out
Cheffers HL Payne and FJ Buchanon
Leavy U Jenkins and BJ Ferguson
Morelli LJ Hussey and SJ Carlsen
Parry BJ P Paganelli
Steratore SJ Weatherford
Winter U Michalek and SJ Hill
Blakeman and Corrente’s entire crew went except the U’s who are both injured…
Kent Payne worked last years Superbowl so unless he got the CC hes either off or Probowl Bound 🙂
So did Hussey and Weatherford. I’m sure they’ll all get CCs. It’s possible they’ll get b2b super bowls, just unlikely
Talking to a member of Hochuli’s crew the other day, he made it sound like he’ll be working next weekend, one of the CC assignments!
Michael, you continue to mention Triplette’s crew in that GB-NYG game. You never elaborate exactly what he screwed up on. If I remember right, Tom Coughlin is the one that screwed up by losing 2 challenges that were clearly correct as they were called on the field.
There were three calls in the end zone that Triplette blew in that game, in my opinion:
* Jake Ballard’s catch in the end zone that was ruled no catch, which Triplette failed to overturn on replay, when as this picture from the NY Post clearly shows, his knee came down in bounds:
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/giantsblog/giants_coughlin_sick_over_photo_yRluVuH9G4xpybPBTkLkEL
* The Greg Jennings TD catch, where he was bobbling the ball all the way across the end line, and never had clear possession of the ball, which Triplette incorrectly upheld on replay, in my view.
* Donald Driver’s TD catch, where he went out of the back of the end zone, and then was the first person to touch the ball, which was allowed to stand.
As I said the week it happened, I think Triplette is usually a pretty solid referee. But he had a bad game that week, and I didn’t even mention any of the other questionable calls and non-calls that day, which I have to be fair, impacted both teams.
I don’t know what kind of job he did during the rest of the season. I can only go based on the game that I saw, which is why I’m just commenting on that particular game.
Hope Walt Coleman finally gets the big game you all can sit and say hes not worthy or hes not got the caliber but lets remember 2 things 1 he is 1 of 17 white hats and is a PRO in the world of football officating 2 Walt Coleman is actually the Only ref in the bunch to NEVER wear a white hat in college and be a white hat in the pros Allthough i like Ed i think its someone elses turn to shine in the big minute Parry would be alright also
I agree with Bronson about Walt Coleman the dairy man from Arkansas! His time has come to work the SB and we will know soon!
Walt has a Super Bowl already. I agree he will work more he has always done a nice job.
Preth or Russ: Do you know who will be the Replay Officials for the divisional champs? Hope you could post its names. Thanks.
Alas, I can only give you one this week:
Broncos @ Patriots, normal Steratore replay officials:
RA Paul Weidner
VO Mike Wimmer
Thanks a lot Preth. Hope we all has the complete list soon.
OMG: Please read have instead of has. That was a lapsus.
Saints@49ers- Bob McGrath (Parry)
Thanks to your info too, Russ.
Sunday’s Replay Officials:
Texans@Ravens- Tommy Moore (Morelli)
Giants@Packers- Bob Boylston (Riveron)
Good first half by Parry and crew, Few skirmishes at beginning but it seems to have dialed down
Kenneth, NFL officials can not work back to back Super Bowls. Jim Tunney did this years ago as a Referee. Since then, they (NFL) have changed the B2B policy.
I don’t think there is a set in stone policy. At least I’ve never seen it. Sifferman worked the 03-05 super bowls b2b2b very recently. I think it may just be an unwritten rule
Mean Gene was solid as always and he knows how to play to a crowd.
Has the SB ref selection policy changed? Isn’t it five years as a ref and either a CC or SB in any on field position? If so, only Blakeman and Cheffers are not eligible from the eight refs who have/will have worked these last two weekends. So, one of the six (Corrente, Leavy, Morelli, Parry, Winter, Steratore) is getting the SB. The CC refs should be Hochuli and McAulay, right?
McAulay has already been an Altermate. Look for Hochuli and one of the Walts in the CC games
The Giants packers game yesterday had some calls that were very questionable. I am official myself and was in shock when the one official over ruled the two guys on the fumble. The ball was clearly out before any part of his body hit the ground. Which led to a touch down for the packers. The other call was the roughing the passer call on osi late in the 4th quarter that was a really bad call did not make helmet to helmet con act and did not hit that hard. some of the crew had an okay game the others did not have a good game.
When do Conf. Championship assignments come out? I can’t believe that the NFL is actually attempting to substantiate the horrible calls of Bill Leavy ( Packers-Giants) for his on-field overturn of the Jennings fumble, then his denial of the video facts from the replay. (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/16/league-explais-leavys-replay-ruling/)
If this Referee works again in the NFL, something is clearly wrong……
Looks like it will be Hochuli and Coleman in the CC. Wouldnt be surprised if Anderson got the PB…he did have the SB last year so it would be fitting for him to get the PB, I also dont think that Anderson was top 3 worthy this year.
I will say that Parry and Mean Gene crews both did a great job yesterday. Definately the two best crew performances thus far in this years post season.
Leavy crew will do a good job. Greens BJ Helverson is top notch as well. Should be a well called game.
Hopefully Morelli, on the other hand, doesnt screw anything up in Baltimore…we shall see though…LOL
I believe you have to go three years between Super Bowls. Since the 1990-91 playoffs (under the current format), five guys have been white hats in two Super Bowls, with at least a three-year gap in all of them.
I agree to the comments on “Mean Gene” and John Parry having great games yesterday–I see them both as well-respected officials.
As an aside, I wonder if this is the first time all referees in the same playoff week have worn three-digit numbers? (Steratore=114, Leavy=127, Parry=132, Morelli=135.)
Shouldn’t it be a safety on the Ed Reed interception?
That’s a good question… Reed’s momentum took him into the end zone and out of bounds. Until a few years ago, it would have been a touchback because of the momentum factor. I don’t know the exact wording but if a ball is intercepted and possession is attained in the field of play and momentum takes the player into the endzone, the ball is given to the intercepting team at the spot where possession was attained, which in this case, was the four yard line.
Thanks for the explanation.
The momentum rule was in effect on the Ed Reed interception. Ball was intecepted just inside the 5 yard line so even though his momentum carried him into the endzone the ball will be placed where the pass was intercepted.
The officiating so far has been pretty good in the playoffs. Maybe one of you can answer a question. How can Pete Morelli push back the spot of the ball at the end of the Baltimore-Houston game when there was no evidence of where the ball had progressed when Rice’s forward progess was stopped. You can make an educated guess, but that’s not definitive video evidence of overturn a call.
Whoops, I stand corrected, it looks like Leavy’s trying to win the game for the Packers with the “call stands” non fumble that went against the Giants. It’s pretty clear the ball was out with nothing on the ground.
Not sure what Leavy was seeing on the replay of the Jennings fumble but my best guess is that he was afraid to make such a big call in that situation, which is a shame and has to bring up some bad memories of Super Bowl XL. Really a poor job in a critical situation by Leavy, I wonder if he’ll be apologizing to Giants fans in a few years?
Morelli seems to always miss holding calls when he’s in Baltimore. How does Baltimore go an entire game without any infractions? Amazing Pete does it again!
As much as I hate to say it, Bill Leavy and crew are missing a good game. So far, he gets an F in my book.
Morelli’s crew called a pretty good game, just was surprised about the changed spot without any sight of the ball. I agree about the missed pass interference calls. There weren’t many flags thrown in the game period either way.
I’ve never thought Leavy was a good referee yet he keeps getting playoff assignements plus a Super Bowl, which was the worst officiated in history.
There seem to be fewer offensive holding calls since moving the umpire behind the offense.
As an aside, there still hasn’t been a white hat the caliber of Jerry Markbreit.
I agree totally HGC99. No one will ever be as good as Jerry
Markbreit. He was an awesome referee as well as an awesome man. Even my extremely good friend Ed Hofhuli can’t outdo him..SORRY Ed. I have known Jerry for upteen hundred years. He is just one fine man. Cashion would be the other one who was exdcellent also.
Nita I agree with you concerning Jery Markebreit as well as Red Cashion. Sorry Becky. Itwas Red Cashion who got me interested in the referees. I knew Red was in ChargewhenI heard his well known First Down.
I was watching Green Bay play Chicago when Charles Martin sacked Jim McMahon. I was in awe as Jerry checked on Jim McMahon and ejected Mr Martiin from the game.
Leavy strikes again. Blow to the head!! Wow…..
None of the guys today come close to Markbreit. I will never forget Al Michaels comment during a Monday Night game as he made a call saying, “Markbreit’s the ref, we know the game’s in good hands.” Agree with the thoughts on Red Cashion, a great white hat. FIRST DOWN!!!!!! Norm Schacter was a great ref too.
HGC99-What did you mean by “Blow to the Head” in reference to Bill Leavy? I didn’t get that.
I am referring to the roughing the passer on 3rd and 10 late in the game against the Giants. Pereira tweeted that the penalty was a mistake.
There was “no blow to the head” ” infraction.” We didn’t see it
Janna85
Please clarify your last comment about the 4th Quarter Roughing the Passer. It sounds like you’re saying that the foul was not for a blow to the head of the quarterback, if it was for a late hit that would be an even worse miss.
I didn’t think the Morelli crew was that bad. Maybe a holding or two each way and there was a pass interference that could’ve gone against Houston when the safety came through the tight end, but they mostly let both teams play and were consistent about it. Leavy so far is a different story, I just can’t understand how he botched that instant replay on the Jennings fumble.
Obviously I’m disappointed with the outcome of the game, but I thought Morelli did a great job today. I would have given them an A+, even though they didn’t flag BAL even once. The only beef I had was a missed holding call on BAL that didn’t have a bearing on the final score.
BAL gets 4 turnovers and 14 giftwrapped points and they have to barely hold on for a victory at home? NE should kill BAL next week.
You have my respect for being fair. 🙂
Great season for your Texans. They’re set up to do even better next year.
Agree that was a rather unimpressive win for BAL. Agree with Cowher that HOU matches up well with BAL and NE doesn’t. The AFC game should be interesting and probably close.
respect from me too, I told you Morelli would be good. Be glad you didn’t have Leavy. he has been AWFUL
How does Bill Leavy continue to get big playoff games? He’s one of the worst refs out there. Give me Gene Steratore any day… wish he could ref all 4 playoff games this weekend.
That being said, John Parry had a good day in San Fran. Mike Carey is also top notch.
Bill Leavy constantly puts up solid regular seasons. He normally does a pretty good job in the playoff assignments. It’s a shame that the Super Bowl and today were both particularly bad.
AFC Championship Game – BAL @ NE
NFC Championship Game – NYG @ SF
What are your predication who next week’s refs are gonna be?
Hochuli in SF, Anderson in NE. Parry in Indy for the Big Game
I share the same sentiments as Kenneth regarding the CC assignments but I have Morelli for the Super Bowl. I think he is ready. I also have Mike Carey as my Pro Bowl Ref
Any chance that Mike Carey gets one of the championship games? He’s always one of the best, in my opinion, and I’m surprised that he hasn’t gotten a postseason assignment so far. At least when Carey is out there, you know it’s usually going to be a competently officiated game.
On the flip side, Bill Leavy had one of the worst days I’ve seen a referee have in a playoff game since, well since he was ref in the Super Bowl. I was embarrassed for him, and for the league, with the atrocious job he did today.
I was hoping Carey would get the Superbowl. He is my absolute favorite!
Guesses:
Hochuli /// Anderson
Hannah /// Ellison
Payne /// Stabile
Hussey /// Podraza
Rosenbaum /// Wrolstad
Weatherford /// Carlsen
P Paganelli /// T Steratore
These aren’t necessarily the exact crews, just the 2 of each position I’m guessing
as well as Weatherford he work the Broncos/Pats game
I am discombobulated, how comes competent refs such as Carey and Triplette aren’t being mentioned in the playoff assignment’s discussions by the insiders, but you have WHs who should not be allowed 100ft to these playoff venues are working and possible working twice. Is it another case of some kind of Union Rules?
It seems it doesn’t matter how one performs during the year the NFL seems to abiding by some archaic and or cumbersome rules, or the referee brass has the power to select whomever they wish irrespective of their ability and to hell with a merit system. Preth, Kenneth, you guys care to ad your say to some of us novice’s argument.
Everyone has their own opinion about which R’s they like and dislike. And very few people watch enough football to be qualified to say which R’s had a good year and which R’s had a bad year. (R’s work a large variety of teams each season. You’d need to watch a *lot* of football to judge them accurately.)
Several white hats, including Hochuli and the other SB frontrunners, did have good years. Some white hats, including Triplette and Carey, did not.
Agreed – one note, Nantz was highly complimentary of sterna tore on Saturday night. It would seem that he is destined (not this year but soon) for bigger games.
No doubt about it.
Again, I thought the top three WHs this season were Ed, Triplette and Carey. And I would hope at least two of the three mentioned WHs get a CC and the SB.
I’m dumbfounded how Leavy missed that fumble by Jennings. My daughter goes “dad the ball was out before the runner hit the ground. .i can see that.”
To me it doesn’t seem as though Carl Johnson is not as involved as Mike Peoreria was. Not that I care for Mike either. However, he’s struck gold when Fox created a position for him. He gives his opinion but it doesn’t matter what he says anymore.
Well, the Ravens are in the AFC Championship game. I’m sure Ron Winter or Mike Carey will have a flight booked for Providence in the next few days.
The rest of the assignments will be out sometime after lunch.
Ed Hercules is very good at showcasing himself. He loves the limelight and makes sure he gets a lot of airtime. I think he’s the most overrated WH in the NFL along with McCauley.
Joe the Mailman,I respsectfully disagree with you about Ed Hochuli.
Janna
Maybe theres a little bit of jealousy on Joe the Mailmans part. I gues when you know these guys(meaning Ed and Jerry) personally you look at the great personality and man they are and see how it fits in with their officiating. thanks Janna85
My Guesses would be the following
New England- Triplette
San Fran- Hoculi
Pro Bowl- Carey
Super Bowl- Coleman
My predictions are:
BAL @ NE – Mike Carey
NYG @ SF – Walt Anderson
AFC vs. NFC – Walt Coleman
Super Bowl XLVI – Jerome Boger
As much as we all admire the Ladies Man, he is most likely not going to get the Super Bowl…I think it will be Parry or Steratore.
Ed Hercules looks almost definite for one of the conference championship games
Jerome Boger for the Super Bowl ??? Now that is funny !!!
Alberto Riveron for Super Bowl would be even funnier!!
He almost got the assignment!
Nobody has mentioned Scott Green for a post assignment?? He is a solid official and has had SB assignment a few years ago.
Considering Scott Green had 3 officials assigned as replacements, another serve as an alternate, and it is rumored elsewhere that a 5th was ranked in the top 3 at his position I have a hard time fathoming why the crew was not in the Top 8. The only thing I could think of is that due to Green missing some weeks with an injury the NFL did not want to assign his crew to a game. The problem with that theory is Tony Corrente missed even more time and got an assignment (although if Tony is pondering retirement or at least a leave of absence due to his cancer diagnosis it is possible the league assigned him as a send off if the crew would have ranked in the Top 8 had Tony been around all season)
I think the article mentioned by a previous poster Corrente said that the wild card week would have been the last possible week for him to referee because of his medical treatments. I wish him nothing but the best and hope he is able to stay healthy enough to return to the field in the future, if not next season.
I also think the health situation of Corrente vs. Green are starkly different, perhaps factoring into the league’s decision.
Kenneth P Paganelli was an alternate for the Broncos/Pats game does that mean hes still Eligable for the CC game
Carl was the alternate U. Dino was the BJ, Perry hasn’t worked.
Looks to me that the refs need more then them looking under the hood. Leavey BLEW two major calls which could have cost the Giants the game.
But they got the Over!
thats Probly gonna give John Parry the superbowl with Coleman getting probowl im greatful this site post the crews but just to vent a minute John Parry did a GREAT job but when is walt coleman finally gonna get his superbowl its long overdue Hes getting older and Times running out
Coleman is very good but I still say Steratore is the best ref.
If the Patriots make the Super Bowl, would the NFL give Uncle Walt the game in this, the 10-year anniversary of the Tuck Rule game?
And moot point. Uncle Walt will be in Honolulu.
Yes Thursday’s the 10 year anniversary of that game, to be exact.
Steratore and Parry were great this weekend. Morelli was good and Leavy was so so, but the Saturday games were far better in terms of officials. Absolutely no idea how the Jennings fumble didn’t get overturned. Those are the plays that replay are suppose to help overturn the calls on the field. In fact, it was one of the most obvious calls I have ever seen that should have been overturned. Morelli, on multiple occasions, stated the incorrect timeout which a team had taken, but other then that he and he his crew did a good job.
The Jennings non-overcall could keep Leavy out of anything above the divisional round for a few years. Or maybe he’ll Luckett it and go to a different position.
I am from Sydney Australia and find this site absolutely great. I have an interest in refereeing and officiating in general.
How do i join to make comments or ask what will probably be dumb question. ?
no need to join, just continue to post as you did here!
Welcome to the site, you’ll find people from young to old, football to soccer refs, as well as casual fans, to the die-hard…
Some of us are friends with referees, while others merely have excellent contacts within the business.
Friends with some of the refs? Anyone friends with Mr. Winter? He seems like a good guy, even though at times he looks like a goober on the field.
thanks kenneth
WNST All-Sports Radio in Baltimore just reported that the referee for the AFC Championship game (Ravens at Pats) will be Alberto Riveron. They went on to state that this is is third post season game in the league working a wild card game last season in Chicago.
You mean the divisional playoffs, as far as the game Riveron worked last year. Bears had a first round bye.
That would be a mild ‘upset’…Easy Ed seems destined to lock up another spot (in the NFC CC or SB) so that would leave one more…based on everyone’s comments as to the performance to date, it should be Steratore, though it cannot/will not be or Perry. Perhaps Mike Carey (the league seems to love him as do the announcers) will be the choice.
I wish some of the old officials like my dad were still around. My dad worked for 22 active years, from ’70-’93 and worked the administrative end of things. He played football in high school and college, then coached in high school and college before making it to the NFL. Dad worked in the PAC-10 with Jim Cheffers, so I knew Carl when he was just a young boy. Dad and Jim conducted football clinics in Hawaii, Guam, Philippines and Japan summer of ’70 for PAC-10. Dad worked 2 Super Bowls, the 18th and 23rd. His name was >Gordon Wells. He was the one who wrote the Rule Book the last 5 years of his life from ’93-’98. He coached almost every sport at Harbor College in Wilmington, CA. He’s very much missed, as are alot ofthem, like Jim Tunney, Royal Cathcart, Tommy Kelleher, Dean Look, Al Jury,etc.
Confirmed. Thanks, Wayne. A bit of an upset, that, but not a complete shocker.
Not to ask a silly question, but why is that a bit of an upset? you felt a different official deserved the spot more than Al?, or are you speaking from a bettors standpoint, and think Al lessens your teams chance at victory? Who would you have preferred?
A couple of different reasons:
– During the playoffs, officiating assignments are provided by Mark, an administrator at Behind The Football Stripes. He has been hinting that other white hats were the frontrunners to work the Conference Championships alongside Hochuli.
– I have had information myself for some time that Riveron had a playoff-worthy season, but did not expect that game to occur beyond the Divisional round. When one of Riveron’s crew members was a Wildcard round alternate, he was no longer in the running for a DIV game, thus I did not expect him to show up now.
heard that the NFL is thinking about hiring 10 guys to be full time officials?? The same question keeps coming up?? what are they going to do full time, you can only watch so many films, that is why there hasn’t been full time guys in football all this time.
Train – classroom style. Not just for other current officials, but for upcoming officials. Possibly even seminars for H.S. and college officials.
Work with the competition committee. Work with networks to enhance the replay system. It’s only 4 1/2 months, there is a ton that can be done.
Ed Hochuli has the NFC championship game this week-end. It will be a good game.
I am thrilled Giants got Hochuli not Riveron. Bit surprised that Walt Anderson was only a CC Alternate and Green got shut out completely, but maybe the Referees were just so close this year that the league wanted to rotate a bit
I had a feeling Ed would get the NFC CC…which is pretty much the Super Bowl in my opinion because both of those teams should beat NE or Balt. Im shocked Al got a CC this year as it didnt seem like he had a CC quality year, but good for him…Im sure he will work a great game.
Not sure about the Super Bowl reference since the Pats (if they win) would likely be favorites over either SF or the NYG). AL R and his crew worked the Pats-Phins Christmas Eve game this year and (IMHO) were not at the top of their game. Of course there were 16 other games to impress over the year.
Funny how your looking at things !!! The Super Bowl is this week in the AFC CC !!! The Ravens or NE winner WILL WIN THE SUPER BOWL !!!
After Levy’s uncharacteristic performance this weekend, I’m glad my Giants will be in the hands of NFL85, Mr. Hochuli, Attorney-at-Law, for the NFC Championship.
YEAH!! For Riveron!
I’m guessing you’ll be happy to learn that, in addition to Riveron heading up this weekend’s AFC CC, he’ll also be an alternate at the Super Bowl… 🙂
Site is updated: John Parry to the Super Bowl. Nice.
Umpire Carl Paganelli in the Super Bowl – 3rd time for him. He is solid.
Full crews:
Ravens @ Patriots:
R- Al Riveron
U- Tony Michalek
HL- Kent Payne
LJ- Tim Podraza
FJ- Steve Zimmer
SJ- Tom Hill
BJ- Keith Ferguson
ALT- Walt Anderson
ALT- Terry Brown
Giants @ 49ers:
R- Ed Hochuli
U- Roy Ellison
HL- Mark Hittner
LJ- John Hussey
FJ- Craig Wrolstad
SJ- Don Carlsen
BJ- Perry Paganelli
ALT- Jeff Triplette
ALT- Jimmy DeBell
Super Bowl:
R- John Parry
U- Carl Paganelli
HL- Tom Stabile
LJ- Gary Arthur
FJ- Gary Cavaletto
SJ- Laird Hayes
BJ- Tony Steratore
ALT- Al Riveron
ALT- Bill Schuster
ALT- Wayne Mackie
ALT- Don Carlsen
ALT- Greg Wilson
I’m at a loss over some of these assignments. I don’t understand how Riveron and Coleman get post season over Walt Anderson, Mike Carey, or Terry McAulay.
Riveron had a decent year. His assignment to a CC was a little surprising, at least to me, but a playoff assignment was deserved.
The Pro Bowl is not a luxurious assignment. It ranks just below all the other postseason games.
The R’s you mentioned at the end are normally solid, but they and their crews didn’t have the greatest of seasons. Anderson was a possibility for a CC, but that’s about it.
Mike, You are correct,there is alot of stuff those goes on behind closed doors. Though having worked with Riveron in the past,(college) he is an outstanding offical and has a good presence on the field!
HL Tom Stabile is an excellent pick for this year’s Super Bowl. Consistency is one of his strong points as well as a great knowledge of the rules of the NFL. Congrats to Tom for another solid year!
This is pretty cool….. a person I know who works for the NFL Officiating office told me that I can come work in their NFL Officiating Dept!
WOW!!!! what a dream job! 😀
What would you be doing for them, Becky?(Or is it Sporting Becky lol)
@Avi
Not sure I have a B.S. Degree in Health(Business & Fitness) & my Masters Degree in (Biomechanics, Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology).
Maybe I can set up a great Exercise Program for the Officials 🙂
“Eddie Guns” probably wouldn’t need that! I knew someone in Virginia who was a friend of former ref Bernie Kukar, and once mentioned on this site that I got to meet Larry Nemmers, another former ref, when he was doing an officiating demo the day before Super Bowl XL in Detroit. At the time he was a ref. Real nice guy.
That was a reply to what Becky said about the exercise program in case you weren’t sure.
Quick breakdown of the SB refs for me:
Parry – well deserving
Paganelli – thought it may have been Michalek, but Pags is just as good
Stabile – well deserved, thought Payne had a legit shot to go b2b
Arthur – another well deserved, thought Boston could’ve earned it also
Cavaletto – great official, may be the best individual on Correntes crew
Hayes – I liked Carlsen for it, he deserves it, but no problem with Hayes
Steratore – may be the best BJ in the league (PPags and Vernatchi also very good)
They don’t let guys do back-to-back Super Bowls, so Payne could not have done it.
As I’ve said before, I dont think this is a formal rule, just one they avoid doing. Sifferman went b2b2b a few years back, and Tunney did back in the day. I’m not convinced this is an actual rule
Tony get in correct. Riveron is Cuban -American NOT Mexican! If the NFL brass feels he is deserving to work the CC, a great season for Al.
Congratulations to John Parry. Well deserved.
Congrats to all those selected. Hochuli had a good year IMHO, and of course seemed to be on a big tv game every week. Really didn’t see much of Riveron this year, but he always seems to have a solid game. Parry’s been pretty good the last couple of seasons.
Carey is the big omission, I mentioned earlier I like him and his sense of authority, but didn’t think his crew had a good year.
As a watcher of the game from Australia i have to say i like Gene Streratores style.He seems good with the players and confident with his calls. Was he eligible for the SB ?
Yes.
I agree with much has been posted here. Very well deserved by John Parry, an outstanding official. I don’t believe Steratore was eligible by previous requirements (not working a CC game as a R), but not sure if Parry had before either. Steratore is my personal favorite on a side note due to his game management and mic work. I also believe that Carey and McAuley are definitely superb white hats, but their omission may be due to poor crew performance this season.
The CC requirement doesn’t need to be as an R. Any position will do.
John Parry has a Super Bowl under his belt. He was the Side Judge to Tony Corrente in SB XLI in Miami.
I agree, Jeff congratualtions to all selecteed re
Yes…………..
Found a photog who will be on the Field at the NFC Championship NFL Referee R-85 Ed Hochuli game!!!! Good will get nice photos of him on the field during this game 😀
I just stumbled upon this site (to see who the Giants are getting this weekend) and am finding the commentary interesting.
I see some comments that the average fan can’t truly tell who’s good at these officiating position and who’s not. I don’t doubt that, but what sort of things can we look for?
My impressions, at least of the head refs, after watching football the past 10-15 years…
Overall, I think Ed Hochuli, Mike Carey, and Gene Steratore are the best. They seem to know their stuff and are always in control, even if they ham it up a bit.
I dread seeing games with Ron Winter and Jeff Triplette. Winter seems old, slow, and really flag-happy. There’s no flow to his games, and I never cheer because I’m just waiting for another bizarre penalty to be called. Of course there was that whole fiasco in SF in the 39-38 playoff game.
Triplette seems to be in way over his head. Off hand, I think of him: blinding a guy and still throwing flags towards players years later, messing up the overtime rules, wasting what seemed to be 15 minutes on a coach’s challenge without realizing that the team was already out of timeouts, etc.
I know all this is just superficial, but still…this is what comes across on TV. With two high-profile games with Bill Leavy screw-ups, and that really bad incident in that 11-10 Steelers/Chargers game a few years back, the integrity of the game can seem compromised at times.
Last, is it me, or is defensive pass interference not being called as frequently as in prior years? Is the trend toward letting DB’s play, but calling more illegal contact up front and fouls for hitting defenseless receivers?
Gonna poke around the site a bit more now…thanks!
Welcome! May I respond to your various inquiries via the email you provided, assuming it’s real? I’d rather not answer this large message with an even larger message.
Yikes, I had no idea I was this long-winded. Sorry. 🙂
I’d like that very much, thanks — no rush, though. My e-mail is real.
@NJ77- The 11-10 Steelers-Chargers game was Officiated by Scott Green not Bill Leavy. Leavy did the Playoff game between those two teams later that year.
Congrats to Al Riveron and that crew on a conference championship game, well deserved after a bounce back season. Now don’t muck it up
Great picks for SB this year!
I also wanted to mention that I think it’s a shame that Mike Carey is left out of post season wotk this year!. I feel he’s the best of all.
While I don’t agree he’s the best (I’m on the Blakeman train big time) I agree that he shouldn’t have been left out. Certainly he was better than Cheffers (who, IMO, is bottom 5)
Not this year. 😉
Congrads to all the guys who received assignments. I personally know about 75% of the NFL guys . They are all good guys deep down, sometimes when you see them having a problem, many times it’s because they over officiate. What i marvel over is the how these guys can keep their concentration at a high level. From the time they get to the stadium 2 1/2 hours before, they have someone in their face with game details, TV Network (Commercials breaks), Stadium Security (In case there is an evacuation), Timers, Ball Boys, chain crews. I like the assignments, 2 michigan Guys C & P Pags great guys
Mick, I agree with 100% about Al!!(Great Post)
For whatever the hell it’s worth, I deem anyone who has a real interest in NFL officiating a “ref-head” (including me, of course!). This site, and the dialogue within, gets better and better all the time, I believe, and this year had the most spirited debates yet!… Hopefully, we “ref-heads” can unite, cross our fingers and hope there are no questionable calls the rest of the way!
Joe (or anyone else) – thoughts on penalties (per game) seemingly cut in half during the playoffs this year. I know that it is typical to ‘let the boys play’ and decide the outcome in the playoffs, but half seems like a larger than normal number. For instance, I thought that Steratore’s crew did an excellent job Sat without calling a ton of penalties and I think that Moreli’s group was above average without calling ONE penalty on Baltimore. Thoughts?
Super Bowl ref John Parry also did the SF vs Balt game on Thanksgiving Night.
I thought about this too, as it would be interesting if SF and BALT win. Not only would it be the Harbowl (or the Superbaughl) but Parry would again be the referee. To my recollection, only Mike Carey (pats-giants) has had a regular season match up in the Super Bowl
Sal, I agree. Riveron deserves to work as do all other officials. But I find it strange that you only seem to post when it comes to Riveron and not on any other official or subject. You stated you worked college with Riveron. When was this and what conference? I’m not trying to pick on you. But fair is fair. Be objective in your comments and rate Riveron and any other official the same way; good or poor. I live in Florida and worked high school in the same association as a current NFL Umpire. I was privy to how the evaluations are done and have actually seen them. Again, Riveron earned his stripes and will have millions of evaluators on Sunday as will Hoculli.
Is this Wayne(MEAC) from Titusville or Ft. Myers area.(J. Rice) Or perhaps you could be from Orlando(Ellison).If you are from Florida you should know that Al came from CUSA.I have been objective in the past and will contiue to do so.
Re Parry getting the SB gig, they’ve returned to the system prior to last year where the SB ref worked a Wildcard or Divisional game. Last year Anderson got the SB without working a prior playoff game (tho I think he was an alternate). Was last year just an aberration, or a experiment the NFL decided not to continue?
FYI just rating the playoff crews on their performances, I would have Steretore 1st, then Blakeman, then Parry. And of course the first two had fairly easy, one-sided games. Parry had probably the most intense game of these playoffs and handled it well.
Wonder why Walt Anderson didn’t get a playoff game this year? I think he is one of the best if not the best ref around now.
Sal, yes he did work in C-USA but actually came out of the Big East. He was mentored by Jerry Austin whom he worked in his NFL crew before retirement. Again, my only comment is that when you do post on this site it is always about Riveron. Maybe you are his number one fan or a “Riveron Groupie”. I just think it is unusual that when you do post it only about him. Are you the same guy that tried to sell his signed business card on E-Bay and Amazon.com? I wish Alberto and all officials this week and beyond great games and little controversy so Mike Periera won’t find anything to write on his FOX page.
No, Wayne I am not a Riveron Groupie nor have I have never sold anything on E-Bay concerning Al.I do agree with you about Periera and I hope these crews have a great weekend ahead! Actually my favorite referee is Walt Coleman.Riveron and I go way back and I have just watched him develop through the years!
Peter King has an update on Tony Corrente on his si.com column today.
Gene Steratore must be an incredible SPORTS official. The day after he did the divisional playoff game at New England (vs Denver) he worked the Ohio State basketball game. That is very impressive
I won’t be seeing two of my favorite WHs, Triplette and Carey during the playoffs. well at least the Edster made it, congrats to him. Oh well, there is always next year. And Preth thanks for your knowledge as for as the nuances of WHs’ rules. It was a fun year, see you in Aug.
riveron has different crew in ravens – new eng game,,,why ?
Conference Championships and Super Bowls use All-Star crews.
Great job by Riveron and the entire crew, very well done today!
The crew in SF today has a more difficult game in those conditions. No doubt with that much experience on the field the NFL is feeling the game is in good hands
I think Riveron and crew did a really good job with the game. There’s one play I would like to see a replay of to see if they missed a blatant Illegal Contact. It appeared as if Flacco was still in the pocket but a replay of it wasn’t shown. That’s the only thing I saw that might have been missed.
Hochuli would be fine if he wasn’t so long-winded….they shouldn’t allow a lawyer to have a microphone! John Parry is a great choice for SB. Realize that assignments are based on evaluations, but surprised at all the love for Riveron….seems pretty mediocre to me.
The officiating in today’s AFC championship was possibly the best full-crew performance of the season, to date. Parry’s NO-SF playoff game was also top-notch.
Totally agree Perth! It was very smooth, nice when there is no discussion of officiating and all the focus is on the play. So far both games running well but the NFC game is more of a slug fest.
I concur Preth, the entire group of AFC Championship officials were consistent; you knew that the game was going to be called leniently from the onset, yet the officials still had control.
I guess you guys liked the interception that was called back early in the game because of a bogus pass interference penalty.
As expected, Hercules stayed on the mic far too long to explain things.
You mean the illegal contact call in the first game? How was that bogus? Illegal contact was made at about the 6-8 yard range.
JTM is from Baltimore (I believe)…hard to argue with Webb re-routing the receiver 15 yards down the field.
No, he’s from western PA. A Steelers fan, I believe.
i doubt parry will have his full crew for superbowl,,,maybe diff sidejudge and 1 more,,,well see
I posted his crew in the comments. There’s a link to it at the top of the page. (Full Crew)
same thing was on riverons crew for the ravens game but it wasnt his same crew either i dont think
TD, it’s a link. Click on it. It takes you to the comment where the exact crews are listed.
thanks preth,,,,
just a heads up TD, the CC and SB crews are always all-star crews, much like BCS bowls have an all-star crew from a power 6 conference outside of the two playing in the game (i.e. this years Rose Bowl was B1G v PAC12, and was an ACC all star crew led by Brad Allen)
both games were superb today. I agree Riveron’s crew today may have been best all season. Wish Hittner had held his whistle another second on the forward progress fumble, but in the end it was FP, just a 49ers fans desire.
Wish the NFC game ended differently (even with NYG winning) I just feel awful for Kyle WIlliams. poor kid.
Looking forward to a 2007 rematch. not
Tremendous job by Alberto Riveron and Ed Hochuli today. They were picked to do the championship games for a reason, and they proved why.
I personally like the way Hochuli explains his calls. Some might call it wordy, but as a viewer watching at home, I like to hear the reasoning and the rules that apply on a particular call, or review, rather than a ref that goes “The call on the field is confirmed” and walks away.
Looking forward to a solid job by John Parry in the Super Bowl.
I do agree that BOTH crews yesterday managed a good game. Lots of preventive officiating between plays, this demonstrates great presence on the field!
I hate Baltimore lol. I’m definitely a Western PA guy. I just thought the receiver ran into Webb. I didn’t see Webb rerouting him. The corner has the right to run with him. When the receiver runs into him, it should be incidental contact, not illegal.
Both Championship crews did good jobs. I was especially impressed with Riveron’s crew. Fairly lenient in what they would or wouldn’t call, but always seemed in control.
I noticed in the NFC game that there were a couple scraps where the refs would let those originally involved shove each other, grab the facemask, etc. without a penalty, but then would penalize the “third man in” sort of like hockey.
As a Baltimore fan, I also compliment the job done by Riveron and his crew.
Jerry, Yes Riveron did a very good job on Sunday !!! Too bad he couldn’t kick that last field goal for us !!!
NFL Officiating Website
http://www.nflofficiating.com/
Gene Steratore and crew may have missed a goal tending score at the end of Syacuse basketball game today!It was a wild finish to an outstanding basketball game today!
Steratore was on that crew? haha. I know it was Karl Hess who missed it (and yes, it was missed, it was so blatant that I was yelling at the tv and I don’t even like WVU)
Love the site guys…as a fan of officiating in general, I enjoy reading commentary and staying informed on how NFL process works.
I am a basketball official (no football experience), so as to the point about the WVU/Syracuse game, it was not Gene Steratore’s call on the goaltend. He is looking for fouls/violation in the painted area (his primary) and is not responsible or able to tell if it’s a goaltend from the baseline under the basket. Unfortunately, Karl Hess or Brian O’Connell have to come up with that goaltend as the C or Trail officials. It was a mistake, and I feel bad for both…I know that both of them feel worse than anyone because they are both top-notch officials.
Thanks!!
Thanks for stopping by, and for the insight!
Becky, those were some great pics of Ed in San Fran. Thanks for sharing. My favorite was when they were all looking up during the coin toss.
Thank you Nita…. Some of the real nice ones… come from photographers I have met & asked them to take the photos for me to place on NFL85.com. I need to find me a sponsor so I can afford more pics! 😀
Excellent job by Parry and his crew tonight!
I agree, great job by Perry and his crew.
Preth, GREAT JOB running this site this season !!! The football season goes by way to fast !!!
Thanks, David. Glad to have you around. I intend to put up a post on the front page within the next couple of days.
Does anyone know how Tony Corrente is doing?
I heard no change with R-99 Tony Corrente. I have my friend who knows the Officials checking on more info for me!
Tony Corrente Info:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/17/nfl-ref-tony-corrente-gets-good-news-after-chemotherapy/
More Info ….. Tony Corrente
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/04/17/tony.corrente/index.html
Does anyone have a list of names for the new 2012 NFL officials?
Nothing yet… Most NFL Officials take like 1 to 2 months off after Super Bowl.
Also this yr is contract negotiation year for the NFL Officials….. and as of right now…….. no negotiating going on now. The Officiting office personel were in Indy for Competition Committee meetings.
Saw Mean Gene as an Alternate Official in Pittsburgh for the NCAA Men’s Second and Third Rounds.
How many new NFL officials (list) were hired for 2012? Who retired and any position changes?
Thanks Becky for posting about Corrente…
You are welcome…. Nita!!
Karl Richins Officiating Website:
http://mentorref.com/
I hope you all do not mind me posting this here. I would like to help Karl Richins promote his Officiating Website. Please Visit!
Also if you are on Twitter… Please follow him at these 2 names.. Please!
@KarlRef
@MentorRef
Just came across this article on close call sports:
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
NFL Referee Tony Corrente Tumor-Free, Not Yet in the Clear
NFL Referee Tony Corrente began his offseason early to continue cancer treatment following his Saints vs. Lions wild-card playoff game in January.
During a Week One Steelers-Ravens mini-brawl, Corrente had felt a painful sensation in his mouth, prompting an exam and a diagnosis of cancer of the tongue at the throat. Corrente was then placed on chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which would run concurrent with the football season.
Throughout late January and into February, the chemotherapy and radiation treatments’ side effects were very intense and very harrowing: “My quality of life was very poor. I felt like total crud with blisters from ear to ear on my neck, ulcerated blisters over most of my tongue and the same blistering in my throat.” Corrente’s diet was restricted to liquids, his throat unable to process solid food.
Corrente remained defiant: “My girlfriend, Sarah Schilke, kept telling me, ‘All of this is only temporary.’ Those words kept my spirits high.”
Earlier this April, Corrente received the very welcome news that the tumor appears to have been eradicated, though Dr. Randall Weber was still concerned about one slightly irregular lymph node, which will prompt another examination next month to determine the extent of the irregularity.
Nonetheless, the very real prospect of being cancer-free has inspired Corrente: “I have been granted a second chance at life because of the power of friendship, prayer and the greatest team of doctors you could ever imagine. I will use this second chance to help others achieve their dreams and to live and experience all that I can take in with whatever amount of time I’m fortunate enough to have.”
Corrente is a 17-year veteran of the NFL, a back judge during his debut in 1995 and a referee since the 1998 season. He has officiated 13 post-season contests, including 3 AFC and NFC Championships; he was an alternate in Super Bowl XL before working Super Bowl XLI as its referee.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Replacement-officials-NFL-makes-plans-collective-bargaining-agreement-050912
Thanks for keeping us updated Becky. I don’t get much time anymore to watch sports… Let us know what happens.
You are welcome Nita.. I will! I hope others will too!
Anyone knows what the status is with the real football refs????
Hi Nita,
Nothing yet…. I read that @MikePereira on his twitter… he thinks that the NFL will have the replacements thru the Week #2 2012 of Regular Season………. Ughhhhhh noooooo!
BOGUS OFFICIATING AT CINCY-HOUSTON GAME.
Oh?
By the way, this is the 2011/12 playoffs page. 2012/13 is here.
Greetings! I’ve been following your weblog for some time now and finally got the bravery to
go ahead and give you a shout out from Atascocita Tx!
Just wanted to mention keep up the good work!
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