News
Retired NFL back judge Tony Steratore honored by the officials union
NFLRA Annual Honoree is awarded to an outstanding official and contributor to the union
The NFL Referees Association, the officials union, has announced that retired back judge Tony Steratore, is the 2025 NFLRA Annual Honoree. Steratore was honored at the union’s annual meeting. The Annual Honoree Award recognizes an official for an outstanding officiating career, plus their contributions to the NFLRA as a member of the board of directors.
Steratore was elected to the NFLRA board of directors in 2008, and served as the union president from 2017 until his retirement in the spring of 2021.
In news release, NFLRA president Carl Paganelli said that the union was “honored to recognize Tony for his remarkable contributions to our NFL officiating community.” Paganelli continued, “He was a steadying force and a familiar, friendly face for all officials, both new and seasoned. As president, Tony helped secure a new CBA a year early, which led to long-term certainty and enhanced benefits for our membership.”
The older brother of Gene Steratore, Tony was a back judge for 21 seasons, retiring after the 2020 season. He wore number 112 his entire career. He worked 17 on-field playoff assignments: 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 4 Divisional Playoffs, 6 Conference Championships and Super Bowls XXXIX and XLVI.
One of his biggest calls happened in Super Bowl XLVI when Steratore informed referee John Parry that a long incomplete pass by the Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was intentional grounding. Because there was no receiver in the area, Steratore was in a rare situation where the back judge had coverage duties on an intentional grounding call. He ran in from 50 yards downfield — officials would not have headset communication devices for a few years — so that Parry could determine the other aspects of the call: whether Brady was in the pocket and under immediate threat of a sack. Parry then threw the flag, and since Brady threw the pass from the end zone, it resulted in a safety for the Giants (video).
Off the field, Tony, Gene and cousin Frank Steratore run a sanitary supply business. Frank became a NFL official after Tony and Gene retired.
Congratulations to Tony Steratore, the 2025 NFLRA Annual Honoree.
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Anonymous
April 11, 2025 at 3:08 pm
If you really look at Tony’s playoff record during the early to mid 2010s especially, you can see that he may have been the most consistently good back judge in the NFL during his tenure, maybe only rivaled by someone like Perry Paganelli. Add on his contributions as NFLRA President and you know this honor is well deserved. Congratulations Tony!