About NFL Referees

Referee

• In the NFL the referee is also known as the head referee or the crew chief. He wears a white cap while the other officials wear a black one. The referee's responsibilities are many and include announcing every penalty and explaining them to the captain of each team. The referee will also speak to the coaches about calls made on the field. As far as actual play the referee stands about 10 yards behind the quarterback and looks for illegal hits from the defense against the quarterback and for illegal blocks in the quarterback's vicinity. The referee will call for the yardage chains when a measurement for a first down is necessary. Tough calls such as whether a forward pass was actually a fumble are the referee's job and in an NFL game the referee will look at disputed plays on a special replay monitor and have the final say on if the call is upheld or overruled.

Umpire

• The umpire has the most dangerous job of all the referees in the NFL. This is because they must stand 5 yards from the line of scrimmage and are on the defensive side of the ball in the middle of the action. Umpires are often runs into and run over, making alertness especially prudent on their part to avoid injury. The duties of the umpire include making certain the offense has only 11 men on the field of play, watching for holding on the line of scrimmage, looking for illegal players downfield during passes, and helping the referee make calls involving possession of the football. When the ball is dead the umpire keeps track of all scores, timeouts, and even wipes the ball between plays on rainy days.

Head linesman

• The head linesman's concerns are mostly around the line of scrimmage. This referee is on one of the sidelines right at the line and looks for offsides or encroachment by defensive players. The head linesman will mark the forward progress of a ball carrier and monitor all eligible receivers. Illegal motion, shifts and use of hands are all calls made by the head linesman.

Line Judge

• Lining up on the other side of the field from the head linesman is the line judge. This referee aids the head linesman in making calls such as illegal motion and offsides. They also will assist the head referee when it comes to calling false starts on offensive players. An important function of the line judge is to make sure that when attempting a pass that the quarterback does not stray beyond the line of scrimmage before doing so. On punts the line judge keeps track of offensive lineman heading down the field of play too early and they are the supervisors of the timing of the football game. They also monitor substitutions from teams located on their side of the field.

Back judge

• The back judge will be 20 yards deep in the defensive side of the ball on the wide receiver's side. They count defensive players to make sure there are no more than 11 and watch eligible receivers on their side of the playing field. Possession on catches, whether the player was inbounds, and pass interference all fall within the domain of the back judge. They look for clips on kick returns and on field goals and extra points they position themselves under the goal posts and rule on if the kick was good or was missed. The side judge will have the same responsibilities as the back judge but they line up 20 yards deep down the same side of the field as the head linesman.

Field judge

• The field judge goes 25 yards deep into the defensive backfield but on the tight end side of the football. From there they will watch the play clock and make delay of game calls. They also count defensive players and make rulings on balls crossing the goal line on touchdowns. They observe eligible receivers on their side of the field and make rulings on catches and pass interference. The field judge marks where a play goes out of bounds on their side of the playing field and also calls illegal use of hands on receivers and defensive backs as well.