2023 Conference Championships
Smith and Blakeman are Conference Championship referees
Shawn Smith and Clete Blakeman are the referees for the 2023 Conference Championships.
Football Zebras exclusive
Football Zebras has confirmed the assignment of referees Shawn Smith and Clete Blakeman to the Conference Championship games on Sunday. Smith will be in Baltimore for the AFC matchup between the Chiefs and Ravens; Blakeman will be in San Francisco for the clash between the Lions and 49ers.
All times are Eastern.
The prior playoff experience that is listed for the crew chief includes his service as an NFL official, including as referee and any other crew position (excluding alternate assignments).
Sunday, Jan. 29
AFC Championship Game: Chiefs at Ravens, 3:00 p.m. CBS Paramount+
Shawn Smith is the referee, who is in his 9th season and 6th as referee. This is Smith’s 8th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, a Divisional Playoff, and 2 Conference Championships.
He got started as a flag football official at Eastern Michigan University. Smith was recruited to run track and play football at EMU before transferring to Ferris State University.
At the collegiate level, Smith officiated in Conference USA in 2009, the Mid-American Conference from 2009 to 2012 and the Big Ten Conference from 2012 to 2014. He worked at the back judge position during this time, and completed his first full season as a Big Ten referee in 2014, when the NFL came calling for the 2015 season. Smith worked the 2011 Armed Forces Bowl and the 2015 Senior Bowl while a college football official.
The NFL promoted him to the referee position in 2018 after referee Terry McAulay left the NFL to join NBC.
Smith, 50, is a corporate manager for a major health insurer in the Detroit metro area.
| Yrs | 2023 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 14 | Shawn Smith | 9 | Ferris State | finance | |
| U | 81 | Roy Ellison | 21 | Hill | Savannah State | IT engineer |
| DJ | 6 | Jerod Phillips | 8 | Martin | Northeastern State | real estate agent |
| LJ | 45 | Jeff Seeman | 22 | Smith | Minnesota | brokerage sales |
| FJ | 33 | Nate Jones | 5 | Cheffers | Rutgers | firefighter/EMT FORMER NFL PLAYER |
| SJ | 36 | Anthony Jeffries | 6 | Rogers | Alabama-Birmingham | medical sales |
| BJ | 105 | Dino Paganelli | 18 | Smith | Aquinas College | educator |
| RO | Mike Wimmer | 21 | Smith | NYU | producer | |
| RA | RA | Sebrina Brunson | 4 | Smith | Florida Atlantic | case specialist |
| ALT | R | Clay Martin | 9 | Oklahoma Baptist | retired high school administrator and basketball coach | |
| ALT | U | Bryan Neale | 10 | Smith | Indiana | sales consultant |
| ALT | DJ | Kent Payne | 20 | Rogers | Nebraska Wesleyan | agribusinessman |
| ALT | LJ | Tripp Sutter | 5 | Wrolstad | Nebraska | biopharmaceutical rep |
| ALT | FJ | John Jenkins | 10 | Eck | St. Mary’s | sales executive |
| ALT | SJ | Jimmy Buchanan | 15 | Vinovich | South Carolina State | food service director |
| ALT | BJ | Greg Steed | 21 | Hill | Howard | computer systems analyst |
| ALT | RO | Mark Butterworth | 7 | Vinovich | Walsh | non-profit COO |
NFC Championship Game: Lions at 49ers, 6:30 p.m. Fox
Clete Blakeman is the referee, who is in his 16th season and 14th as referee. This is Blakeman’s 14th postseason assignment, including 4 Wild Card Playoffs, 5 Divisional Playoffs, 4 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl 50. His Super Bowl assignment was as a referee.
Before becoming an official, Blakeman was a second-string quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1984 to 1987. He started a handful of games, most notably a 70-0 shutout of the Kansas Jayhawks in 1986.
Blakeman, 59, came to the NFL from the Big 12 Conference in 2008. After a couple of seasons at field judge, he was promoted to referee in 2010.
Blakeman is a personal-injury attorney in Omaha, where he lives with his wife and two children.
| Yrs | 2023 crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 34 | Clete Blakeman | 16 | Nebraska | attorney | |
| U | 20 | Barry Anderson | 17 | Torbert | North Carolina State | builder/developer |
| DJ | 8 | Dana McKenzie | 16 | Blakeman | Toledo | claims adjuster |
| LJ | 59 | Rusty Baynes | 14 | Kemp | Auburn-Montgomery | general manager, safety services |
| FJ | 90 | Anthony Flemming | 4 | Hussey | Texas A&M-Commerce | senior auditor |
| SJ | 125 | Chad Hill | 6 | Hochuli | Mississippi | medical sales |
| BJ | 27 | Grantis Bell | 4 | Wrolstad | West Virginia | school counselor |
| RO | Chad Adams | 6 | Blakeman | Cincinnati | operations | |
| RA | RA | Gerald Frye | 4 | Eck | Gannon | veterinarian |
| ALT | R | Shawn Hochuli | 10 | Claremont | financial advisor | |
| ALT | U | Carl Paganelli | 24 | Hussey | Michigan State | retired federal probation officer |
| ALT | DJ | Frank LeBlanc | 4 | Hussey | Lamar Institute of Technology | neighborhood services manager |
| ALT | LJ | Mark Stewart | 6 | Novak | Pittsburg State | rancher |
| ALT | FJ | Mearl Robinson | 7 | Hill | Air Force | retired U.S. Air Force instructor |
| ALT | SJ | Dominique Pender | 4 | Clark | Howard | trade support, finance and banking |
| ALT | BJ | Todd Prukop | 15 | Blake | Cal State-Fullerton | medical sales representative |
| ALT | RO | Bob Hubbell | 4 | Clark | Texas A&M | steel sales |
