News
NFL hires 24 full-time officials in second year of the program
Julian Mapp, a full-time NFL official in 2018 (Kansas City Chiefs)
The NFL has hired 24 officials as full-time NFL employees for the 2018 season. Last year there were 21 full-timers.
Some full-time officials from last year are not full-time officials this year.
Up until 2017, all NFL officials were designated at part-time employees and worked full-time jobs outside of football (see table below). There has been a drumbeat, mostly from fans and media, to make NFL officials full-time. During the contentious 2012 labor dispute, the NFL put forth a concrete proposal to make some of the officials full-time and it finally came to fruition last year.
If an official is designated as full-time, they can still work outside jobs, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their NFL duties. Walt Anderson had to leave his position as supervisor of officials in the Big 12 because the college conference wanted the position to monitor games on Saturday. Anderson had to make a choice between being an NFL official and a college supervisor — and he chose the pros.
In a news release, Scott Green, executive director of the NFLRA, commented, “We are supportive of providing our members the opportunity to voluntarily commit additional time for additional compensation to NFL officiating, especially in the off-season. This program is the result of extensive discussion and planning, and the NFLRA looks forward to continuing and supporting the program in its second year.”
Football Zebras has learned that the full time officials are most used in the off season addressing rules concerns and mechanics specific to their position. Being a full-time official does not appear to give the official a “favorite” status with the NFL. Also, if one no longer is full-time, it does not mean the official did a bad job off the field or on the field. The officials who were full-time in 2017 but not in 2018 remain on the roster and, presumably, are earning income outside of football or have retired from their “day jobs.”
We are still a long way from having all officials full-time employees. Note none of the first or second-year officials are full-timers.
Here is the list of full-time NFL officials. *-New to full-time program in 2018-19.
| Â | Â | Â | Yrs | 2018 crew | College | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 122 | Brad Allen | 5 | Â | Pembroke State | non-profit CEO |
| R | 66 | Walt Anderson | 23 | Â | Texas | former college officiating coordinator, retired dentist |
| R | 23 | Jerome Boger | 15 | Â | Morehouse College | retired commercial insurance underwriter |
| R | 135 | Pete Morelli | 22 |  | St. Mary’s | retired high school principal |
| R | 132 | John Parry* | 19 | Â | Purdue | financial advisor |
| U | 11 | Fred Bryan* | 10 | Martin | Northern Iowa | superintendent, juvenile correctional facility |
| U | 81 | Roy Ellison* | 16 | Hochuli | Savannah State | technical staff member |
| U | 115 | Tony Michalek* | 17 | Hussey | Indiana | communications specialist |
| U | 124 | Carl Paganelli* | 19 | Anderson | Michigan State | retired federal probation officer |
| DJ | 134 | Ed Camp | 19 | Hochuli | William Paterson | physical education teacher |
| LJ | 59 | Rusty Baynes | 9 | Boger | Auburn-Montgomery | general manager, safety services |
| LJ | 32 | Jeff Bergman* | 27 | Kemp | Robert Morris | president and chief executive officer, medical services |
| LJ | 10 | Julian Mapp | 10 | Parry | Grambling State | project leader |
| LJ | 9 | Mark Perlman | 18 | Vinovich | Salem | teacher |
| LJ | 84 | Mark Steinkerchner | 25 | Torbert | Akron | vice president |
| FJ | 97 | Tom Hill | 20 | Hochuli | Carson Newman | teacher |
| SJ | 41 | Boris Cheek | 23 | Morelli | Morgan State | director of operations and management |
| SJ | 88 | Brad Freeman* | 5 | Martin | Mississippi State | sports park director |
| SJ | 120 | Jonah Monroe | 4 | Boger | Arkansas | engineer |
| SJ | 1 | Scott Novak* | 5 | Allen | Phoenix | sales manager |
| BJ | 133 | Steve Freeman | 18 | Kemp | Mississippi State | custom home builder |
| BJ | 78 | Greg Meyer* | 17 | Cheffers | Texas Christian | banker |
| BJ | 111 | Terrence Miles | 11 | Allen | Arizona State | quality control manager |
| BJ | 12 | Greg Steed | 16 | Hussey | Howard | computer systems analyst |
Front Picture: Full-time NFL officials Walt Anderson (New Orleans Saints)
