Assignments
Carl Cheffers is the referee for Super Bowl LV. Sarah Thomas becomes the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl
Football Zebras has confirmed that Carl Cheffers will be the referee for Super Bowl LV in Tampa.
Football Zebras has confirmed that Carl Cheffers will be the referee for Super Bowl LV in Tampa.
Cheffers, 60, is in his 21st season and 13th as referee. This is Cheffers’ 15th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 6 Divisional Playoffs, 2 Conference Championships. He previously officiated Super Bowl LI in the 2016 season. Cheffers was the referee for the Ravens-Bills Divisional Playoff last Saturday.
Cheffers is a sales manager from Whittier, Calif., who joined the NFL in 2000 after working five years in the Pac-10 Conference, now the Pac-12.
Also of note, down judge Sarah Thomas, hired in 2015 as the first woman official on the NFL’s full-time roster, will now make history again as the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl.
A referee must have at least 5 years of seniority, worked 3 years at the referee position, and worked a playoff game as a referee in a previous postseason. The other members of the Super Bowl crew have traditionally had a Conference Championship game on their résumé (or received on-field assignments in 3 of the last 5 postseasons) in addition to being at least a 5-year veteran. This year, that criteria appears to have been relaxed.
Entering this postseason, Thomas has worked two other postseason games; she earned the third this year, which ordinarily means her Super Bowl eligibility would begin next year. Sources told Football Zebras in 2016 that she was slated to get a wild card assignment that year, but was sidelined with a broken wrist at the end of the regular season. Field judge James Coleman also has not had the requisite recent experience for a Super Bowl assignment, having a divisional assignment in 2018 and 2014. The later assignment is beyond the 5-year window, although he was injured in the 2015 season. He has picked up at least an alternate assignment and a Pro Bowl in those seasons he has not worked on the field, but that has not been a consideration previously. By extending the eligibility window, it is still 2 playoff assignments in 6 years. All other members of the crew have met the postseason requirement by working a Conference Championship game.
As such, Thomas and Coleman are the two officials on the Super Bowl crew that will be working the Super Bowl for the first time in their careers. The remaining members of the crew will be working their second Super Bowl: Cheffers, umpire Fred Bryan, line judge Rusty Baynes, side judge Eugene Hall, and back judge Dino Paganelli.
Owing to the pandemic, this will be the first Super Bowl since the first one to have a full crew of alternate officials. Additionally, there is an alternate replay official to be safe. This was also done for this year’s Conference Championship games.
Scheduled assignments are subject to change due to the pandemic.
| Yrs | 2020 crew | College | Occupation | Prev. Playoff | Prev. SB | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 51 | Carl Cheffers | 21 | California-Irvine | sales manager | 5 WC, 6 DIV, 2 CC | LI | |
| U | 11 | Fred Bryan | 12 | Blakeman | Northern Iowa | superintendent, juvenile correctional facility | 3 WC, 3 DIV, 1 CC | LIII |
| DJ | 53 | Sarah Thomas | 6 | Hochuli | Mobile | sales representative | 3 DIV | |
| LJ | 59 | Rusty Baynes | 11 | Boger | Auburn-Montgomery | general manager, safety services | 4 WC, 4 DIV, 3 CC | 50 |
| FJ | 95 | James Coleman | 16 | Torbert | Arkansas | electrical engineer | 2 WC, 5 DIV | |
| SJ | 103 | Eugene Hall | 7 | Rogers | North Texas | federal agent | 3 WC, 3 DIV, 2 CC | LIII |
| BJ | 105 | Dino Paganelli | 15 | Smith | Aquinas College | educator | 2 WC, 8 DIV, 2 CC | XLVII |
- Replay official: Mike Wimmer
- Replay assistant: Sean McKee
- Alternates:
- Referee: Shawn Smith (#14)
- Umpire: Ramon George (#128)
- Down judge: Jerod Phillips (#6)
- Line judge: Mark Steinkerchner (#84)
- Field judge: Tom Hill (#97)
- Side judge: Jabir Walker (#26)
- Back judge: Brad Freeman (#88)
- Replay official: Mark Butterworth
Image: Chad Young for Football Zebras / Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images / Manfred Schmidt/Dreamstime.com
Editor’s note: A correction was made to the originally posted roster which contained two officials erroneously.
