Gene Steratore
- Referee: 114 – Gene Steratore
- Umpire: 92 – Carl Madsen
- Head Linesman: 87 – Paul Weidner
- Line Judge: 55 – Tom Barnes
- Field Judge: 67 – Doug Rosenbaum
- Side Judge: Barry Anderson
- Back Judge: 112 – Tony Steratore
Gene Steratore Jr. is an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) since 2003. He began in the league as a field judge and was promoted to referee at the start of the 2006 NFL season, one of two new referees (Jerome Boger the other) that year, following the retirements of Bernie Kukar and Tom White. He wears the uniform number 114.
Prior to joining the NFL, Steratore was a referee in the Big East Conference.
Steratore took over briefly as referee during a December 28, 2003 regular season game between the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants after Bernie Kukar, the crew chief, was injured during a play in which he was hit in the back by the Giants’ Clarence LeBlanc after a blocked punt.
Steratore resides in Washington, Pennsylvania.
Gene has a brother, Tony, who is also an official in the NFL. Tony works as a back judge. His father, Gene Steratore Sr., was a college football official and basketball referee.
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Steratore is the best ref in my opinion.
Dear Mr. Steratore,
I am very upset that none of your team called a “Roughing the Passer” or “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” on the Philly player (I will find out who it was – don’t have his name yet & can’t remember his number) who hit Jason Campbell on the Redskins’ very last possession of the game. The Eagle player hit Jason AFTER he through the ball and he hit him so hard that Campbell stayed down for several minutes after the hit.
Not only was the hit blatant and SHOULD have been called, had flag been thrown, it would have correctly given the Skins the chance they were robbed of to score one more time! It’s one thing for you guys to miss a holding call here and there but missing this “roughing the passer” call makes it look like you were paid off by the Eagles!!! You should be ashamed of yourselves and embarrassed that you missed the call.
I keep looking at the last play for our offense over and over again. It is clear to me now that the ONLY reason a “roughing the passer” call was not made on the Washington Redskins quarterback, Jason Campbell, is because his name is not “Tom Brady” or “Peyton Manning” or “Drew Brees”. The more I see the replay of that hit, the angrier I become. The Washington Redskins have been disrespected by the NFL for years and this is the final straw.
I think I’ll make this a campaign of mine. I think the disparity in this league of how certain teams are treated has gotten bad and it’s simply wrong. People need to be made aware and that’s what I’m going to do… make them aware.
The Washington Redskins deserve not only an apology, but the player who hit Campbell, DE Juqua Parker, should be fined. Had he hit one of the aforementioned “elite” quarterbacks, he would have been kicked out of the game (even though it was over for the most part anyway, it would have been done). Until this is rectified, as a lifelong Washington Redskins AND NFL fan, you can bet I won’t be spending any of my hard-earned money on “Official” NFL stuff but I’m going to make it known how cavalier the officials in this game were about a blatant late hit on a quarterback that actually KNOCKED HIM OUT for a few minutes!!!
Diane Chesebrough
Woodbridge, VA
Gene,
Just got the site to contact you. I enjoy watching your precision on the field as I always have. I hope this email is not previewed by anyone else but I have a special request. Ed Manning’s group, I understand may be under your control or supervison, has a new member, line judge by the name of Brian Sakowski. He has been our high school linejudge for 3 years now. Outstanding official, a student of the game and the rules. I think that with proper supervision and guidance he could be an excellent NCAA official if not more in due time. Hope you and your family have a grat holiday.
rick druschel
Diane,
Grow up please!! Your opinion is a crock and has no merit what so ever. Being an active football official myself, I know exactly what Mr. Steratore is looking for that type of play and based on what I saw the call you are looking for is not there.
Mr. Steratore,
Being a white hat at the high school level, I always enjoy being able to watch yourself and/or Mr. McAulay work a game television. Bar none, I think the two of you are the best white hats the NFL has right now. Have a safe and blessed Christmas.
John Sandlin
Corunna, MI
Hey john
I agree that steratore and mcaulay and the best 2.
I hear mcaulay might take over for pereira, thatd be good.
I had not heard that, but I could see why Mr. McAulay would take the job, having already reached the top of the mountain for NFL officials twice. I think McAulay would be a great fit for that job. If he took it though, would that mean he would have to give up his job with the Big East Conference?
gene,
i’m not sure if you remember me but i use to buy janitorial supplies from your company when i worked at jeffco. i just wanted to tell you that you are doing a great job in the nfl. good luck and god bless.
Gene Steratore and his crew are one of the best in the league in my opinion. I think Steratore deserves to call the Super Bowl or at least a conference championship game this year. He and his crew are having an outstanding season.
Hi Jerome -
I like Steratore as well, unfortuntaly he has only been reffing for like 4 seasons, (he and Boger became refs at the beginning of either 05 or 06) so I don’t think he is eligible for another year or so. I’d be looking for Anderson or Mike Carey, or possibly Morelli, although he is least likely of those 3
I attended an NCAA basketball game last night in which Mr. Gene Steratore
was officiating. The game was between Rhode Island and Drexel. The game was very physical and many fast breaks were run. I thought Gene did an excellent job working this game. The very night before he was in Chicago working the Monday Night game between the Bears and the Vikings. Not only is Gene a fine football official but he also works men’s NCAA basketball games just as well! I yelled to him during a media timeout and he made eye contact and responded back with an answer about last night’s NFL game. He is a class guy all the way. The NFL certain needs more officials like Mr. Gene Steratore! Happy New Year to all, please be safe and DO NOT drink and drive…
Gene, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING!!!! I have yet to see such a poorly called game in a LONG time!!! You and your crew are supposed to be some of the best, yet what we are all seeing is a game that is so unfair due to your poor calls, that it has to be a set up! You call Ronde Barber for holding, which was rideculous as he was actually being held by his jersey (which of course cost the Bucs their well deserved interception. Then, yet another idiot judge gets in the way of Freeman trying to making a play. Your crew has missed 3 defensive holding calls against the Falcons, which all could have meant big plays for the Bucs, how convienient!!! This is so biased, its sickening. The final straw was this last play we watched, when Kellen Winslow was in the end zone trying to catch a TD pass from Freeman and #21 (Owens) from ATL had his hands all over Winslow, holding him well before the ball reached him and their was no call….worse than that, the very next play, Winslow is tackled in the end zone by Owens again and he tries to strip Winslow well after the ball was caught and declared a TD. There was NO personal foul call as it went on for minutes and minutes until it was finally broken up by having to pull Owens off of Winslow. The Bucs have worked so hard to salvage what they could from this season…there are JOBS at stake and peoples families are affected by this games outcome as this has been a losing season. Coach Morris has worked so hard to turn this team around and this is what he gets! Everything working against him…unfair calls and biased refs! Come on, this man is working two jobs, head coach and defensive coordinator…he is fighting for his job, and he can’t trust you to be fair!!? Just fair…is that so hard to ask? Just because your retiring or what have you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give your best effort for a fair game. You owe Coach Morris, The Bucs and our fans an appology! The entire stadium was stunned at this last call as were the media working the game…show some integrity and check your biases at the door at your next event! There are enough fouls every Sunday committed by each team every Sunday, you don’t need to clearly favor one team and neglect to call any of the other teams fouls!! THIS CREWS PERFORMANCE MADE BUCS FANS AND JUST PLAIN FAIR FOOTBALL FANS SICK AT HOW BIASED “OFFICIALS” are supposed to be. You are supposed to keep it fair, not chose the outcome you want! I hope your supperiors review this game and your nailed for how you called this game! GLAD to see you go, after this game!!!!
In regard to the above comment: I am correcting the typo that was made at the end of the comment which was supposed to read, “how biased officials are.” I have heard since, that the info on your “leaving” the league may have been a mistake, but since I am unsure, I will adv you of my mistake in quoting that information. Unlike the players and teams in general, that get ripped off by inaccurate calls, I appologize for my mistake. In any event, I do hope that you take the time to review the calls during that game and you get a chance to witness what we all saw. Since you seem to have a good reputation, I can only hope that you will make adjustments for the next game you cover. I sincerely hope this game was far from your norm.
Officially fed up,
Well I see you are a Bucs fan and normally when their fans along with the team are not having a good year in the least bit (like the Bucs did) then it is always the officiating crews fault for the loss.
Have you ever refereed a football game? If you have not had the chance to referee a football game, then you do not have any right to call out any officiating crew at any level like you did in your post.
John
Yes you do sir. When these guys are the best in the world at what they do and should maintain a fair game and they don’t, then yes, they can be called out. I didn’t watch this game so i have no bias on either side, but obviously you didn’t watch either so keep your loud mouth closed
Thank you Matt. I couldn’t agree more. You were much more eliquent than I was, but got the point accross of deserving a fair game, no matter who wins!
Yes, you are correct about one point; I am a Bucs fan. However, I do not “blame” the officials for their loss. We all know that they HAVE had a hard year, which is not a suprise. It was a rebuilding year. My comment did not indicate that the officials cost the Bucs the game. I adv that their calls were very much one sided. Though I’m sure this is how many fans feel about many games (which is their right to express), this game actually stunned local fans and the media as well. The generalization of the fans, is just flat out a poor attempt to insult someone with inaccurate information. Its easy for people to criticize the Bucs and their year, but they are no less deserving of a fairly called game. Not all “non-winning year” teams are the same nor are their fans. I am hardly some uneducated, drunken fan that is upset at the refs for “blowing the game.” I just one, among the many, upset, reasonable fans that felt that the game was very one sided. If you watched the game, you should have no problem seeing what I am reffering to. 60,000 fans and the media gasping at the same time is hard to miss! Despite that, I am one of the people that understand refs can’t see everything and that there are a TON of calls that could be called almost every, if not every, play on either side of the ball. For your information as well, my dearest friend is married to a official, so I do understand a bit more than you may assume. As the gentleman after you mentioned, we all do deserve the right to watch a fair game, no matter the outcome. I will admit however, despite my disapointment in the poor calls, my anger should not have allowed me to make the comment about “being glad its his last game.” It was said out of disapointment and anger and for that, I appologize to Gene. That is what one does when they are WRONG! Now, when its your job to be fair and its be made clear after watching film of the game, that you haven’t been, you shouldn’t be accountable in any way??
No comment…I have learned my lesson. Refs make bad calls every week that effect the outcome of the game and idk what to think about it anymore.
“rideculous”- I read to this “word” in the post and stopped reading after that.
Matt–
Problem is my loud mouth as you referred it too, referees a full football schedule each and every fall. So, guess what I have a pretty decent idea of what I am talking about. If that offends you, then I am sorry.
Matt–
Problem for you, is I referee a full football schedule each and every fall. So, I have a pretty decent idea of what I am talking about. If that offends you, then I am sorry.
But, this is neither place or website to discuss our personal differences of opinions concerning NFL officiating crews.
His mom was my 1st and 2nd grade library teacher. She was awesome.
Wow, this crew tried very hard, to bring back the Pats.
when did you see this? I thought they were very fair.
I agree with Russ. Granted that GB-AZ isn’t over, but it was the best officiating all weekend. Steratore will be SB ref soon, not this year cuz he is to new, but maybe next year or 2012.
-Muffed punt recovery.
-Flacco out of bounds. They re-spotted it a lot behind the actual spot, hoping the Ravens are short of the first down.
-2 point conversion. They can’t overturn it, that’s why they should have called it right in the first place.
-there was a bad illegal contact call in the 3rd quarter
Muffed punt is not on that crew, Harbaugh should have challenged.
If you listen to the commentators, they say the ball should be at “about the 6″ right where it is placed
The 2pt conv, the ball was entirely blocked by Pats31 (Meriweather?) so how could the official know for certain it crossed? They couldn’t
I do agree with the Illegal contact, but he did do the best job this weekend, and is one of the best…keep in mind the IC was not his call
-Harbaugh and the TV crew messing up, doesn’t vindicate the refs. A ref was there, where the NE player lost control of the ball. Was he blind?
-Ball should have been ON the line, not behind it. Commentators don’t usually throw refs under the bus.
-2PC – that’s why I say, they should have called it right in the first place.
Agreed, he has the most control over a game than any other other referee
hey gene great job i still remember you doing waynesburg college games
Best ref. Cool under pressure and takes control of a game well!