Connect with us
1st and 25 podcast advertisement

Assignments

Carl Cheffers is the referee for Super Bowl LVII

Carl Cheffers will be the referee for Super Bowl LVII.

Published

on

Football Zebras has learned that Carl Cheffers will be the referee for Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz. at State Farm Stadium. He will become only the seventh NFL official to officiate at least 3 Super Bowls at the referee position.

Cheffers, who officiated Super Bowl LV two seasons ago, is the first referee to be assigned to the Super Bowl twice in 3 seasons in 35 years.

Officials who are selected for the Super Bowl are graded and scored in the top tier of their position.

One of the members of the crew is down judge Jerrod Phillips, the second Native American official and the first citizen of Cherokee Nation to be assigned to the Super Bowl. Line judge Jeff Bergman, who is in his 30th and final season, has become the most tenured official to work a Super Bowl, officiating in his third Super Bowl this season. The league is very high on side judge Eugene Hall, who has been selected to his third Super Bowl in the last 5 seasons, the most in that span since field judge Tom Sifferman worked 3 consecutive Super Bowls from the 2002 through 2004 seasons.

This will be the first Super Bowl assignment for down judge Jerod Phillips and field judge John Jenkins. The other 5 on-field officials will be working their third Super Bowl of their careers. This crew has the most Super Bowl experience since the crew of officials that worked Super Bowl XXXIV following the 2000 season.

Since officials cannot work Super Bowls in consecutive seasons, Cheffers is the first referee to return to the Super Bowl two years later since the late Jerry Seeman officiated Super Bowls XXIII and XXV at the conclusion of the 1988 and 1990 seasons.

Cheffers, 62, is in his 23rd season and 15th as referee. This is Cheffers’ 18th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 7 Divisional Playoffs, and 3 Conference Championships. In addition to Super Bowl LV, he also officiated Super Bowl LI in the 2016 season. Cheffers was the referee for the Bengals-Bills Divisional Playoff last Sunday.

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. He was promoted to referee in 2008 along with former senior vice president of officiating and referee Al Riveron following the retirements of referees Gerry Austin and Larry Nemmers.

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 must have a Conference Championship game on their résumé — or qualified for 3 of the last 5 postseasons — in addition to being at least a 5-year veteran.

      Yrs 2022 crew College Occupation Prev. Postseason Prev. SB
R 51 Carl Cheffers 23   California-Irvine sales manager 5 WC, 7 DIV, 3 CC LI, LV
U 81 Roy Ellison 20 Hill Savannah State IT engineer 4 WC, 6 DIV, 4 CC XLIII, LII
DJ 6 Jerod Phillips 7 Martin Northeastern State elementary school teacher 2 WC, 3 DIV, 2 CC  
LJ 32 Jeff Bergman 30 Kemp Robert Morris president and chief executive officer, medical services 8 WC, 10 DIV, 3 WC XXXI, LIII
FJ 117 John Jenkins 9 Kemp St. Mary’s sales executive 1 WC, 3 DIV  
SJ 103 Eugene Hall 9 Cheffers North Texas federal agent 3 WC, 4 DIV, 3 CC LIII, LV
BJ 105 Dino Paganelli 17 Smith Aquinas College educator 2 WC, 10 DIV, 2 CC XLVII, LV
RO   Mark Butterworth 6 Vinovich Walsh non-profit COO 2 WC, 1 DIV, 2 CC  
RA   Frank Szczepanik FB Ops Barry NFL sr. coordinator of officiating special projects (replay command center) 0  
ALT R John Hussey 21   Idaho State nonprofit CEO 6 WC, 5 DIV, 4 CC XLV
ALT U Ramon George 7 Novak Lenoir-Rhyne financial underwriter 2 WC, 1 DIV, 2 CC  
ALT DJ David Oliver 6 Hill Baker information systems manager 1 WC, 3 DIV  
ALT LJ Tim Podraza 15 Torbert Nebraska business performance consultant 7 WC, 2 DIV, 2 CC  
ALT FJ Terry Brown 17 Blakeman Tennessee court director 5 WC, 4 DIV, 1 CC  
ALT SJ Boris Cheek 27 Allen Morgan State retired director of operations and management 6 WC, 6 DIV, 4 CC XLII, 50, LIV
ALT BJ Perry Paganelli 25 Blakeman Hope College retired high school administrator 7 WC, 9 DIV, 6 CC XLI, LII
ALT RO Tyler Cerimeli 5 Hochuli Arizona State high school officials coordinator 1 WC, 2 DIV  

Image: Designed by Ben Austro; Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images / John Martinez Pavliga

Cam Filipe is a forensic scientist and has been involved in football officiating for 12 years. Cam is in his fourth season as a high school football official. This is his ninth season covering NFL officiating for Football Zebras.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Latest Podcasts

Latest Podcasts