Assignments
Wild Card assignments: Blakeman, Cheffers, Hochuli, Morelli
Football Zebras has confirmed that Clete Blakeman, Carl Cheffers, Ed Hochuli, and Pete Morelli have been assigned to a Wild Card game.
Football Zebras has confirmed the officiating crews for the Wild Card weekend. Officials are listed with their uniform number, years experience (including this season), the crew each official worked with in the regular season (by the referee’s name), college, and outside occupation.
All times are Eastern.
Three alternates are assigned to each game: generally, one is designated for the offensive backfield (a referee or umpire), one is on the line of scrimmage (head linesman or line judge), and one is a deep position (side judge, field judge, or back judge).
The prior playoff experience listed for the crew chief includes his service as an NFL official, including as referee and any other crew position (excluding alternate assignments).
Saturday, Jan. 3
NFC Wild Card: Cardinals at Panthers, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Ed Hochuli is the referee. This is his 25th year as an official and 23rd as referee. This is Hochuli’s 23rd postseason assignment, the most of any active official (8 Wild Card Playoffs, 6 Divisional Playoffs, 7 Conference Championships, and Super Bowls XXXII and XXXVIII).
| Yrs | 2014 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 85 | Ed Hochuli | 25 | Hochuli | Texas-El Paso | attorney |
| U | 115 | Tony Michalek | 13 | Boger | Indiana | USA Football officiating director |
| HL | 22 | Steve Stelljes | 13 | Anderson | Friends | business planning manager |
| LJ | 107 | Ron Marinucci | 18 | Blakeman | Glassboro State | vice president, novelty cone company |
| FJ | 29 | Adrian Hill | 5 | Hochuli | Buffalo | software engineer |
| SJ | 41 | Boris Cheek | 19 | Triplette | Morgan State | director of operations and management |
| BJ | 93 | Scott Helverson | 12 | Hochuli | Iowa | sales, printing and promotions |
- Replay official: Tom Sifferman
- Replay assistant: Roger Ruth
AFC Wild Card: Ravens at Steelers, 8 p.m. (NBC)
Clete Blakeman is the referee, who is in his 7th season and 5th as referee. This is Blakeman’s 4th postseason assignment (3 Wild Card Playoffs, 1 Divisional Playoff); he has only missed the playoffs one season in which he was eligible.
| Yrs | 2014 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 34 | Clete Blakeman | 7 | Blakeman | Nebraska | attorney |
| U | 40 | Butch Hannah | 16 | Triplette | Middle Tennessee State | retired federal probation officer |
| HL | 28 | Mark Hittner | 18 | Wrolstad | Pittsburg State | investment broker |
| LJ | 45 | Jeff Seeman | 13 | Cheffers | Minnesota | brokerage sales |
| FJ | 82 | Buddy Horton | 16 | Morelli | Oregon State | water service worker |
| SJ | 15 | Rick Patterson | 19 | Blakeman | Wofford | banker |
| BJ | 46 | Perry Paganelli | 17 | Parry | Hope College | retired high school administrator |
- Â Replay official: Carl Madsen
Sunday, Jan. 4
AFC Wild Card: Bengals at Colts, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Carl Cheffers is the referee, who is in his 15th year and 7th as referee. This is Cheffers’ 9th postseason assignment (4 Wild Card Playoffs, 3 Divisional Playoffs, and 2 Conference Championships).
| Yrs | 2014 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 51 | Carl Cheffers | 15 | Cheffers | California-Irvine | sales manager |
| U | 121 | Paul King | 6 | Vinovich | Nicholls State | school teacher |
| HL | 54 | George Hayward | 24 | Corrente | Missouri Western | vice-president and manager, warehouse company |
| LJ | 100 | Tom Symonette | 11 | Allen | Florida | certified public accountant |
| FJ | 67 | Doug Rosenbaum | 14 | Allen | Illinois Wesleyan | financial consultant |
| SJ | 3 | Scott Edwards | 16 | Torbert | Alabama | environmental engineer |
| BJ | 119 | Greg Wilson | 7 | Corrente | USC | law enforcement |
- Replay official: Jim Lampetina
- Replay assistant Jim Pearson
- Supervisor: Johnny Grier
NFC Wild Card: Lions at Cowboys, 4:30 p.m. (Fox)
Pete Morelli is the referee, who is in his 18th season and 13th as referee. This is Morelli’s 15th postseason assignment (7 Wild Card Playoffs, 5 Divisional Playoffs, 2 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl XXXVI). His Super Bowl assignment was as a field judge. Thanks to Dave Birkett for the crew list.
| Yrs | 2014 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 135 | Pete Morelli | 18 | Morelli | St Mary’s | high school principal |
| U | 81 | Roy Ellison | 12 | Wrolstad | Savannah State | technical staff member |
| HL | 91 | Jerry Bergman | 13 | Coleman | Robert Morris | sales executive |
| LJ | 90 | Mike Spanier | 16 | Coleman | St Cloud State | middle school principal |
| FJ | 20 | Barry Anderson | 8 | Torbert | North Carolina State | builder/developer |
| SJ | 56 | Allen Baynes | 7 | Boger | Auburn | realtor |
| BJ | 27 | Lee Dyer | 12 | Wrolstad | Tennessee-Chattanooga | sales manager |
- Replay official: Bob McGrath
