Wild Card Weekend
Arizona at Carolina: Ed Hochuli
Detroit at Dallas: Pete Morelli
Baltimore at Pittsburgh: Clete Blakeman
Cincinnati at Indianapolis: Carl Cheffers
Divisional Playoffs
Baltimore at New England: Bill Vinovich
Carolina at Seattle: Terry McAulay
Dallas at Green Bay: Gene Steratore
Indianapolis at Denver: Bill Leavy
Conference Championships
Green Bay at Seattle: Tony Corrente
Indianapolis at New England: Walt Anderson
Pro Bowl
AFC vs NFC: John Parry
Super Bowl
Seattle vs New England: Bill Vinovich
What is the likelyhood of Ed Hochuli for super bowl
Hochuli is getting superbowl as long as he has no fuck ups in his divisional game as per NFL source.
he botched the Car/Ariz coin flip
Hochuli is not getting it this year.
Apart from Triplette, have any refs stood out as being particularly bad this year?
I think one of the new refs might get it. Would love to see Hochuli get the super bowl though.
new refs are not eligible
My Votes for Top 3 to officiate the Super Bowl this season are. Corrente, Morelli or Blakeman.
My votes for Top 3 are Vinovich (NFL brass seems to love him), Corrente or Steratore. If I had to vote for the other 7 Referees to get a playoff spot I would go with Anderson, Blakeman, Cheffers, Coleman, Hochuli, McAulay and Triplette. If the league keeps up its policy of not having the Super Bowl referee working the following year that would open up a spot for Morelli. Please note that when I lost a referee I am not including the whole crew but the referee ONLY
Fellow ref fans:… I must inform you all that due to some health issues I am facing, you won’t be hearing from me for a while. It’s especially a shame since the team I cover as a longtime beat writer, the Baltimore Ravens, have made the playoffs again, for a tenth time in 15 years. I hope you all enjoy the postseason and that the zebras call it right. My very best to you all, Joey P
Wishing you the best Joe. Thank you for all of your contributions this season.
All the best Joe. Take care of yourself and get well. As a fellow Ravens fan, I do my best to cheer for both of us.
joe wish u all the best get better joe im a steelers fan
These are my predictions on who will officiate an NFL Wild Card Weekend playoff game:
AZ @ CAR: Jerome Boger
BAL @ PIT: Pete Morelli
CIN @ IND: Carl Cheffers
DET @ DAL: Walt Coleman
OK–here are my pics:
AZ @ CAR: John Parry
BAL @ PIT: Ron Tolbert
CIN @ IND: Walt Anderson
DET @ DAL: Jeff Triplette
first year referees are ineligible
When will the Playoffs Referee Assignment be posted/available?
Wild Card Predictions
AZ@CAR: Tony Corrente
BAL@PIT: Terry McCauley
CIN@IND: Walt Anderson
DET@DAL: Carl Cheffers
I think the Super Bowl refs will be either Bill Vinovich, Pete Morrelli, or Ed Hochuli. They’ve had a nice season so far
Listen, guys, I know what I said about my health issues earlier, and they still apply. But the outpouring of support I’ve gotten has been so great, I must thank everyone here and now. One of those who chimed in was my usual Ravens source, and he tells me that CLETE BLAKEMAN will be the man in charge for the BAL-PIT wild-card game. So, glad to contribute. Take care, everyone…
Thanks Joe! Whatever it is, i hope you feel better soon.
Feel better Joe!
Flip card has the rest of Blakeman’s crew (though no alternates are listed)
U – Butch Hannah
HL – Mark Hittner
LJ – Jeff Seeman
FJ – Buddy Horton
SJ – Rick Patterson
BJ – Perry Paganelli
Replay – Carl Madsen
Morelli in Dallas
http://www.foxsports.com/southwest/story/familiar-referee-to-work-cowboys-lions-123014
Per Football Zebras, Ed Hochuli and Carl Cheffers are the other two wild-card referees. What games they have are not confirmed, however. In my opinion, Cheffers will receive CIN-IND, and Hochuli will receive ARZ-CAR, because each official did a game of the opposite team last week. (Hochuli worked CIN and Cheffers worked ARZ). But this is ONLY A GUESS. Real confirmation to come.
Anderson’s HL is at Carolina but I am working to find out who the referee is. Obviously not Anderson though…
Hochuli is at Carolina with Anderson’s HL. Confirmed.
It’s official, Pete Morelli in Dallas Sunday.
OK, I think we have a pretty good guess of the assignments for Blakeman, Hochuli, Cheffers, and Morelli:
BAL@PIT- Blakeman, baltimoreravens.com
ARI@CAR-Hochuli, Cheffers just did Arizona last week.
DET@DAL-Morelli, Already confirmed.
CIN@IND-Cheffers, Only one left.
Btw Hochuli did a Cincy game last week so that gives Cheffers CIN@IND.
BAL@PIT- Blakeman, per Joe Platania.
ARI@CAR-Hochuli, per Mark and his usual Anderson source, who is working with Hochuli this week.
DET@DAL-Morelli, per http://www.foxsports.com above.
CIN@IND-Cheffers, per http://www.footballzebras.com, he is the only one left that has a game this week.
These are all confirmed.
We have them all confirmed:
ARI@CAR-Ed Hochuli
BAL@PIT-Clete Blakeman
CIN@IND-Carl Cheffers
DET@DAL-Pete Morelli
Courtesy of Football Zebras
Shame the game is Carolina. Guns could have been in court Friday doing his better paying job the gone home for the night.
Does this mean these 4 are now ineligible for the Superbowl? How does that work?
Yes because the Super Bowl officials are selected from the Divisional Round. Been that way for awhile.
I wonder if Craig Wrolstad, Ron Torbert, or Brad Allen, the new refs, will get a playoff assignment for the divisional round.
Wrolstad and Tolbert did nice jobs this year. better than some of the seasoned refs. Not sure about Allen. Would be nice if they were rewarded.
Just found out that all NFL rookie officials cannot work postseason games due to lack of experience.
Here is a list of the crew members along with the referee for the Wild Card round:
ARI@CAR(ESPN)-
R 85 Ed Hochuli
U 115 Tony Michalek
HL 22 Steve Stelljes
LJ 107 Ron Marinucci
FJ 29 Adrian Hill
SJ 41 Boris Cheek
BJ 93 Scott Helverson
BAL@PIT(NBC)-
R 34 Clete Blakeman
U 40 Butch Hannah
HL 28 Mark Hittner
LJ 45 Jeff Seeman
FJ 82 Buddy Horton
SJ 15 Rick Patterson
BJ 46 Perry Paganelli
CIN@IND(CBS)-
R 51 Carl Cheffers
U 121 Paul King
HL 54 George Hayward
LJ 100 Tom Symonette
FJ 67 Doug Rosenbaum
SJ 3 Scott Edwards
BJ 119 Greg Wilson
DAL@DET-
The Referee is Pete Morelli. However, full crew has not yet been confirmed. When I find out the crew for that respective matchup, I’ll post it.
Crews courtesy of Football Zebras.
To Reff BAL@NE could be in-between Bill Vinovich or Gene Steratore
Steratore is in Green Bay.
My predictions for next week
@ NE Gene Steratore
@SEA Terry McAulay
@GB Tony Corrente
@DEN Jerome Boger
Lets hope Gene Steratore is in New England Saturday
Hopefully Vinovich gets the Super Bowl
I don’t know if you are watching the Lions/Cowboys game, but midway through the third quarter, I saw Jeff Triplette on the sidelines wearing an NFL jacket- looks like he’s the alternate referee. Does this mean he’s OUT for the remainder of the postseason? Does it mean he’s working next week?
His odds of getting a playoff assignment of any kind are slim, that’s why they put him as an alternate official.
My fellow officiating fans, I would like to share with you a comment made by Mark Schultz, co-editor of Football Zebras, along with our friend Ben. About the DPI in Dallas, he writes:
“The game is over, and while all in all the entire crew had a good game, there will be one call that will overshadow any good call or work done by Morelli’s crew. The decision at 8:18 of the fourth quarter to pick up a defensive pass interference flag on Dallas, after Morelli announced the foul. The calling official was then talked off of the flag, forcing Morelli to go back on the microphone and announce no foul. The Lions were not able to convert, punted the ball away, and Dallas marched down the field to score the winning touchdown. Mike Pereira indicates that he supported the flag, and replays indicate that the Cowboys’ defender did not play the ball and made contact with the receiver. This controversial call will mar the otherwise good work done by the officiating crew.”
I normally don’t have outbursts like this but I must say, as a fan of officiating, and even more so of Pete Morelli himself, the one controversy with the back judge’s decision, whether right or wrong, will tarnish Morelli, as he was the referee and the head of the crew. Mistakes happen, but people shouldn’t be shooting the messenger, Morelli in this case. The game was officiated very well and this one error invalidated it all for most fans. We as officiating fans, I hope, see it differently.
I hope you all enjoyed this weekend and we will work tirelessly to get you the assignments for next weekend through this week. Thank you again.
Gene Steratore will likely be in New England on Saturday
Let’s forget about the call in Dallas for a second. I don’t know what will become of that, if anything. But my question is, aside from determining what the outcome regarding that crew will be…are the 28 officials who worked a game this past weekend (4 crews x 7 on each crew) now done for the 14-15 season? Does that have any effect on the Divisional round, Conference Championships, Super Bowl, or Pro Bowl? Is it possible to have more than one postseason assignment (besides whoever gets to work the Super Bowl)? I just wondered if we can or cannot rule out Hochuli, Cheffers, Blakeman, and Morelli for the rest of the postseason? I’ve never been clear as to what postseason rules are for assigning officials to games. Thank you.
Mark, it is highly likely that these 28 officials are done for the remainder of the year. Normally, the seven Super Bowl officials are selected from the 28 who work in the Divisional Round. The only officials who work two postseason games are the Super Bowl officials, who have already officiated a Divisional. The reason why I am not 100% certain, is that the NFL has selected Super Bowl officials from the Wild Card round before, albeit rarely (most recently, Scott Green in 2009 worked a WC in Arizona, and the the SB in Miami).
The policy is that the Super Bowl officials will be selected from ones who worked in the Divisional Round, effective since 2012.
Predictions
BAL@NE Bill Vinovich
CAR@SEA Tony Corrente
DAL@GB Gene Steratore
IND@DEN Walt Anderson
DAL GB REFEREE IS GENE STERATORE
I don’t think so. What source did you find that out from?
He is correct – Steratore is in GB as per ESPN – http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4739393/officials-breakdown-gene-steratore-4
I’m sorry, I thought they don’t release assignments that early. Confirmed, referee for DAL@GB is Gene Steratore.
Bill Vinovich is the referee for BAL@NE. Source:
http://www.baltimoreravens.com/gameday/game/2014/postseason19
Two more to be confirmed, CAR@SEA and IND@DEN. Hopefully we’ll find them out by tomorrow.
CAR@SEA Terry McAulay
IND@DEN Bill Leavy
NE-BAL: Bill Vinovich
CAR-SEA: Terry McAulay
DAL-GB: Gene Steratore
IND-DEN: Bill Leavy
http://www.footballzebras.com/2015/01/06/12264/
Didn’t expect McAulay to be in the playoffs.
OK who do you guys think gets Super Bowl? I think Bill Vinovich does.
Choose from Leavy, Vinovich, and Steratore, as they are the only ones eligible.
BAL@NE
R Bill Vinovich
U Undrey Wash
HL John McGrath
LJ Julian Mapp
FJ David Meslow
SJ Jimmy DeBell
BJ Jim Quirk
Nice try Lorenzo, here’s the crew for BAL-NE.
R Bill Vinovich (52)
U Rich Hall (49)
HL Wayne Mackie (106)
LJ Gary Arthur (108)
FJ Dave Meslow (118)
SJ Jimmy DeBell (58)
BJ Tony Steratore (112)
http://media.patriots.com/mediafiles/2014/19/2014_19_Flip%20Card_20150106_171807.pdf
Is that Vinovich’s normal crew?
The only one from his normal crew is Debell. The other 5 came from 5 different crews. One from Hochuli, one from Leavy, one from Steratore, one from Blakeman, and one from Boger to be exact.
Thanks.
http://www.football-refs.com/2014-crews/playoffs-super-bowl/ On this Flip Card Jeff Lambreth from Craig Wrolstad’s Crew is listed as the Side Judge for the Crew Lead by Bill Vinovich in New England
Loro, that’s not a flipcard that’s a link to this website
I got McAulay right. Can somebody give Tony Corrente a playoff game?
I agree. Tony Corrente should have gotten a chance to be in the super bowl. I guess he might be assigned to either the AFC or NFC championship game then.
Also what happen to John Parry? He hasn’t been in the playoffs for 3 years. One of the better refs. Gotta get him
If I were to rank these 4 refs in the divisional round for the super bowl it would go as Bill Vinovich, Gene Steratore, Terry McCauley, and Bill Leavy but I don’t think Terry will be getting back to back super bowls
It is down to Bill Vinovich and Gene Steratore for Super Bowl referee.
IND-DEN Crew
Referee: Bill Leavy (127)
Umpire: Ruben Fowler (71)
Head Linesman: Jim Mello (48)
Line Judge: Julian Mapp (10)
Field Judge: Steve Zimmer (33)
Side Judge: James Coleman (95)
Back Judge: Steve Freeman (133)
Replay Official: Larry Nemmers
Replay Assistant: Bill Tracy
http://media.denverbroncos.com/images/9008/Flipcards/150111_flipcard_Ind.pdf
I bet Walt Anderson and John Parry will have the games next week
Corrente, Boger, Coleman are also possibilities
Here are the final crews:
BAL-NE
R Bill Vinovich (52)
U Rich Hall (49)
HL Wayne Mackie (106)
LJ Gary Arthur (108)
FJ Dave Meslow (118)
SJ Jeff Lamberth (21)
BJ Tony Steratore (112)
CAR-SEA
R Terry McAulay (77)
U Undrey Wash (96)
HL Derick Bowers (74)
LJ Mark Perlman (9)
FJ Bob Waggoner (25)
SJ Joe Larrew (73)
BJ Terrence Miles (111)
DAL-GB
R Gene Steratore (114)
U Bill Schuster (129)
HL Dana McKenzie (8)
LJ Rusty Baynes (59)
FJ Terry Brown (43)
SJ Tom Hill (97)
BJ Todd Prukop (30)
IND-DEN
R Bill Leavy (127)
U Ruben Fowler (71)
HL Jim Mello (48)
LJ Julian Mapp (10)
FJ Steve Zimmer (33)
SJ James Coleman (95)
BJ Steve Freeman (133)
http://www.footballzebras.com/2015/01/06/12264/
How long have you been interested in officiating Cameron? I recently got HIGHLY interested. How about you?
I have been following NFL officiating for about three years. I really became involved when I was fortunate enough to get in touch with Pete Morelli through email a couple years ago, just telling him about my true love for following the officials of the game and the science behind it. I’ve been following Football Zebras, and contributing here on Football Refs to people who share the passion. When I discovered this website, I was surprised to see how many other people there actually are that share my officiating passion.
Nice to see you Cam on Football Zebras too.
This looks to be the officials who will get the Super Bowl nod.
R 52 Bill Vinovich
U 49 Rich Hall
HL 8 Dana McKenzie
LJ 9 Mark Perlman
FJ 25 Bob Waggoner
SJ 97 Tom Hill
BJ 30 Todd Prukop
Not of this is officially confirmed yet. Confirmation to come soon.
How did you come to this prediction? I mean after the pats game last night I don’t know if I would want that referee and umpire officiating the superbowl. I think steratore and Schuster are the best duo in officiating. They were the highest graded officials at their position last year and got jipped out of the super bowl but probably officiated the best game of the playoffs last year in the nfc championship. My sources also say the both had a pretty great year again this year even though they weren’t on the same crew.
I do agree that Steratore and Schuster are a better team (we’ll have to see how they do in DAL-GB in a few minutes), but he received that prediction from Football Zebras (who recently changed Prukop to T. Steratore due to Prukop’s ineligibility).
http://www.footballzebras.com/2015/01/09/12293/
Steratore is certainty a better referee but it seems the league doesn’t realize that Vinovich has a lot of criticism behind his calls.
Meant to say none in my previous post. Sorry.
Will it be confirmed soon you think?
Conference Referee Predictions
TBA Vs New England Jerome Boger
TBA Vs Seahawks Tony Corrente
My predictions for Conference Championships:
GB@SEA-Tony Corrente
IND@NE-Walt Anderson
You’re right, dude!
Wow there are a lot of Dallas fans upset about the replay reversal on Dez Bryant’s catch. I thought they made the right call though.
My predictions for the Conference Finals referees:
AFC (IND @ NE): Walt Anderson
NFC (GB @ SEA): Tony Corrente
My predictions are right!
My Predictions for the Conference Championships Referees:
AFC(IND@NE) Jerome Boger
NFC (GB@SEA) Tony Corrente
Who are the for sure Super Bowl eligible Refs? My guess right now is Gene Steratore. I believe it’s someone from the divisional round.
That is the League’s policy since 2012. So therefore, it will be either Steratore, Vinovich, or Leavy. McAulay is ineligible because he worked the SB last year. Leavy will probably not get the assignment because he has worked two SBs in his career already. FootballZebras believes the front runner is Vinovich, but Steratore is still a possibility.
IND @ NE – AFC Championship. Clete Blakeman
http://m.norfolkdailynews.com/news/briefs/alternate-referee/article_bff86db4-9b35-11e4-8f99-57ef402d83cd.html?mode=jqm
Nice try, Clete Blakeman is the alternate referee as stated in that article for the Indianapolis vs New England game.
Besides, the only officials who work two playoff games are the Super Bowl ones, which are selected from the Divisional Round. Blakeman worked a Wild Card game so I guess he can be an alternate for another game but not a main referee for any other Postseason game.
Corrente in Seattle for GB
SEA-GB: Tony Corrente
IND-NE: Walt Anderson
http://www.footballzebras.com/2015/01/13/12321/
Corrente just did last year’s AFC Championship. Why is he getting another champ. game this year? Is there a rule that officials are allowed to work two Conference champ. games in a row?
There is no limit to how many consecutive championships can be worked by one official. That’s only the Super Bowl. In fact, between 2005 and 2007, Terry McAulay worked three straight championship games.
OK.
Andreson Crew for IND@NE
U Jeff Rice
HL Kent Payne
LJ Byron Boston
FJ Dyrol Prileau
SJ Michael Banks
BJ Greg Steed
The Superbowl officials have been determined
IND-NE Crew
Referee: Walt Anderson (66)
Umpire: Carl Paganelli (124)
Head Linesman: Tony Veteri (36)
Line Judge: Jeff Bergman (32)
Field Judge: Gary Cavaletto (60)
Side Judge: Greg Meyer (78)
Back Judge: Keith Ferguson (61)
Replay Official: Charles Stewart
Replay Assistant: Jimmy Oldham
Supervisor: Johnny Grier
Only confirmed alternate is Clete Blakeman.
http://media.patriots.com/mediafiles/2014/20/2014_20_Flip%20Card_20150113_165555.pdf
Officials for these two semi final games are ranked 2/3rd in their respective positions this year. Have had to have officiated a wild card & divisional game in previous years, no first timers. Corrente ranks as one of the best referees in NFL on consistent basis
Of course Dino Paganelli is working this weekend. He is usually one of the best back judges every year.
Here’s the final list of all-star crews for this weekend.
GB-SEA
Referee: Tony Corrente (99)
Umpire: Dan Ferrell (64)
Head Linesman: Kent Payne (79)
Line Judge: Carl Johnson (101)
Field Judge: Jon Lucivansky (89)
Side Judge: Rob Vernatchi (75)
Back Judge: Dino Paganelli (105)
IND-NE
Referee: Walt Anderson (66)
Umpire: Carl Paganelli (124)
Head Linesman: Tony Veteri (36)
Line Judge: Jeff Bergman (32)
Field Judge: Gary Cavaletto (60)
Side Judge: Greg Meyer (78)
Back Judge: Keith Ferguson (61)
So in addition to the three rookie referees this year, it looks like no playoffs for Boger, Coleman, Parry and Triplette. The only name I’m surprised about out of that group is Parry, who I’ve always felt was one of the better refs in the game. But this will be his 3rd year in a row of missing the playoffs since doing the Super Bowl following the 2011 season. Guess he’s not as good as I thought.
Two good choices for the conference championships in Corrente and Anderson. Even though Football Zebras has projected Vinovich for the Super Bowl, I’m pulling for Steratore.
Does anyone know the Superbowl officials yet?
Bill Vinovich is the referee for Super Bowl XLIX.
Here is the crew.
Referee: Bill Vinovich (52)
Umpire: Bill Schuster (129)
Head Linesman: Dana McKenzie (8)
Line Judge: Mark Perlman (9)
Field Judge: Bob Waggoner (25)
Side Judge: Tom Hill (97)
Back Judge: Terrence Miles (111)
Congratulations to all these men on a fine season.
http://www.footballzebras.com/2015/01/14/12319/
Vinovich was inactive as a referee from 2007-12 so it’s nice to see that he gets to do Super Bowl.
Pro Bowl Referee Comes Down to Walt Coleman Ed Hochuli and Clete Blakeman
Of course you mess that up too. John Parry is working the Pro Bowl
Vinovich should be interesting. NFL really likes him. He called the division game, 2 Sunday night games, and a Monday night game
John Parry has the Pro Bowl.
https://mobile.twitter.com/footballzebras/status/555792508509495297
The Pro Bowl is not AFC vs NFC, it is Team Irvin vs Team Carter. This is the second year where the Pro Bowl is ‘unconferenced’. Just letting you guys know that you should correct that. As Cam posted, John Parry is the referee for that game.
2015 Pro Bowl crew-
R 132 John Parry
U 102 Bruce Stritesky
HL 24 Tom Stabile
LJ 35 John Hussey
FJ 86 Jimmy Buchanan
SJ 125 Laird Hayes
BJ 38 Greg Yette
Alternate- Tim Podraza
http://www.footballzebras.com/2015/01/24/12431/
Courtesy of Ben from Football Zebras
Great season!! I almost never post any messages, but I read this site every week, and I enjoy the comments. Thanks, Mickey, and I’m already looking forward to next season. Have a great year, everyone.