Football Rules for Referees
More than 130 men spend their falls and early winters working the sidelines at NFL stadiums as game officials. While often lumped together as "referees," they are technically called "game officials." The referee is just one of the officials, along with the umpire, head linesman, line judge, side judge, field judge and back judge. Their job is to manage the game, and on the field, they are the final authority.
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Job Requirements
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An NFL official has to possess at least 10 years of experience calling games, including at least five at the college level or at another professional level (Canadian, Arena, etc.). They must be accredited with an officials' organization. They also must provide the NFL with their records from every game called for the three previous seasons.
Uniforms
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NFL officials wear striped black-and-white jerseys with black pants in the cold and white pants for warm weather. Their number and abbreviation for their position (such as back judge) are on the back. The referee wears a white hat, and the rest of the crew wear black with white stripes.
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Equipment
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Each official carries a stopwatch, a card and pencil to make notes, a whistle, a penalty flag, a down marker and a bean bag that is tossed to mark spots on the field such as where a punt was caught.
Knowing the Rulebook
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Officials are tested every summer on how well they know the league rulebook. They are also graded after the game by the league. In addition, most of the officiating crews will go over rules and hypothetical situations the night before a game.
Heads Up, Seven Up
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The NFL uses seven officials on the field, who line up in specific spots and have certain territories to cover before and after the ball is snapped. However, only the referee is allowed to make official announcements on calls, and officially talk to coaches and players. The referee is the final authority on all rule interpretations.
Making the Calls
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While only the referee announces a call, all of the officials make calls based on what they see. While fans often contend that referees miss numerous calls, the league states that the correct call is normally made about 95 percent of the time.
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