Here’s what we know about the Super Bowl LII officiating crew
The Patriots have had Super Bowls decided by David Tyree’s helmet, Malcolm Butler’s sure hands, and of course, Tom Brady’s right arm. But there’s always the chance that the outcome of Sunday’s matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles could be determined by a yellow flag flopping onto the field.
The seven-man officiating crew for Super Bowl LII will be led by Gene Steratore in his first Super Bowl assignment. Each referee in Sunday’s crew was rated in the top tier of their position. All seven have playoff experience and at least 15 years on the job.
Instead of working with his regular season crew, Steratore will lead what the NFL hopes is an all-star assembly: Roy Ellison (umpire), Jerry Bergman (down judge), Byron Boston (line judge), Tom Hill (field judge), Scott Edwards (side judge), and Perry Paganelli (back judge).
Ellison is the only member of Sunday’s crew that worked with Steratore during the regular season. Steratore, who has been an NFL referee since 2006 and officiated two conference championship games, was in the spotlight in December when he used an index card to measure a first down during a Cowboys-Raiders game.
Steratore has also played a notable role in the league’s never-ending debate over the definition of a catch, ruling that neither the Cowboys’ Dez Bryant nor the Lions’ Calvin Jonson completed the process of making a catch.
According to ESPN, Steratore’s crew was tied for the second-most flags per game (17.1) in the regular season. They called 43 fouls for either defensive pass interference, defensive holding, or illegal contact, which was the fifth-highest total in the league. (The Tom Brady/Brandin Cooks pass-interference machine has a good chance to keep pumping out flags on Sunday.) But referees have called far fewer total flags in the postseason than they did in the regular season, with the average penalties dropping from 15.8 per game to 9.5 per game in the playoffs.
In Steratore’s 23 games involving the Patriots, the team has received 49 percent of the penalties, according to the Washington Post. But the other six members of his crew have all worked in games where the Patriots received the majority of the calls. If the Patriots win, expect the conspiracy theorists who believe the Patriots are benefitting from a pro-New England bias to get even louder.
Philadelphia has gone beyond scouting New England’s offense or defense in preparation for Super Bowl LII. Eagles coaches have shown players video-cut ups of calls Steratore’s crew made so that they know what to expect on Sunday.
“There’s always a fine line in this game between what’s valid and what’s not,” Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks told ESPN. “But at the end of the day, that’s the ref’s call.”
If the officials do their job right on Sunday, a ref’s call won’t decide which team lifts the Lombardi Trophy.
