American Football Database
Register
Advertisement

This is a list of 2012 NFL replacement officials that officiated National Football League (NFL) games as a result of the 2012 NFL referee lockout.

Due to a labor dispute between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association, the 2012 NFL season began with replacement officials working the games. These replacement officials consisted of high school or college officials from lower divisions. Some were from professional leagues such as the Arena Football League and the Lingerie Football League. Unlike the previous lockout in 2001, none of the replacements were Division I referees since the league wanted to protect them from union backlash and to let them continue working their scheduled games during the concurrent college football season.[1][2][3] In addition, many of the top Division I conferences barred their officials from becoming replacements since they employed current and former NFL referees as officiating supervisors.[4][3]

Replacements were used in the first three weeks of the season, during which blown calls led to criticism and upset players and coaches. Controversy over a game-winning touchdown on the final play of a nationally televised Monday Night Football game in week 3 spurred an agreement 48 hours later between the NFL and its officials.[5] In an open letter to fans, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told fans "you deserve better" than games being officiated by replacements. He regretted an agreement not being reached sooner and the "unfortunate distractions to the game."[6]

Referees[]

  • 12 Donovan Briggans
  • 20 Jim Core – Has experience in the Frontier Conference in the NAIA, and AF2. Currently serves as a middle school teacher for the Meridian School District in Meridian, Idaho.[7]
  • 22 Robert Dalton – An 11-year veteran of Division II.[8]
  • 28 Wayne Elliott
  • 36 Robert Frazer
  • 37 Jerry Frump – Has experience in both Division I and III. Was also a replacement referee during the 2001 lockout.[9]
  • 49 Bruce Hermansen – Mistakenly gave the Seattle Seahawks a fourth timeout during the last minute of their Week 1 game against the Arizona Cardinals.[10]
  • 54 Jerry Hughes – former official for the Eastern College Athletic Conference.[11]
  • 64 Paul Layne
  • 70 Matt NicksMid-South Conference (NAIA) and Tennessee high school football official
  • 73 Craig Ochoa – Has experience in the Lingerie Football League.[12]
  • 86 Ken Roan - Mistakenly allowed San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to use two replay challenges after he his team had called all three of their timeouts. Roan later apologised for his error.
  • 92 David Scott
  • 96 Mike Shepherd – Has 10 years experience in Division III.[13]
  • 128 David White – Mid-South Conference (NAIA) and Tennessee high school football official
  • 131 Jim Winterberg – Has worked Football Championship Subdivision college games.[12]
  • 133 Gerald Wright - an online biography says he previously has refereed games in the Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences.[14]

Umpires[]

  • 4 Dennis Angel
  • 7 Glenn Bamlet
  • 25 Hugh Douglass
  • 44 Michael Hannon
  • 46 Marc Harrod
  • 47 Lemuel Hawkins
  • Timothy Keese
  • 68 Timothy Morris
  • 75 Jeffrey Otterby
  • 80 John Petrone
  • 90 Steve Sadowski
  • 95 Rick Shavensky
  • 99 Ali Shetula
  • 100 Oscar Shorten
  • 101 Bob Shoulders
  • 107 Darin Stiers
  • 114 Randy Tabler
  • 115 Brian Taylor

Head Linesmen[]

  • 134 Curtis Adams
  • 2 Kevin Akin - Worked 6 years in Division II. In both Lonestar Conference and Mid-America Conference.[15]
  • 3 Mark Andrew
  • 9 Michael Bell
  • 10 Wayne Bernier – Officiates six-man high school football in Amarillo, Texas.[16]
  • 11 Tony Brasuell
  • 17 Ronald Castrovinci
  • 29 Bill Etzler
  • 30 Tom Falcinelli
  • 40 Thomas Gibson
  • 45 Thurman Hardison
  • 63 Lynn Lawhon
  • 69 Greg Maxwell
  • 77 Mike Peek-- Served as a replacement official during the 2001 NFL officials' strike. [17]
  • 88 Rodney Russell
  • 91 Edward Schmid
  • 106 Kevin Stephenson
  • 109 Brad Strickland
  • 129 Mike Wilmoth - A high school social studies teacher and baseball coach from Wellington, Kan. His bio says he has worked as a high school, college and arena league referee.[14]

Line Judges[]

  • 18 Joe Clark
  • 23 Charles Derrick
  • 27 Shannon Eastin – First female official to work an NFL preseason and regular season game. Has worked as an official in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and has 16 years of officiating experience.
  • 39 Esteban Garza
  • 50 Eric Hoffman
  • 52 Perry Hudspeth
  • 59 Tom Keeling
  • 137 Gregory Nowak
  • 81 Victor Pettus
  • 97 George Shinkan
  • 103 Larry Skarpa
  • 104 Derrick Smith
  • 112 Anthony Stroman
  • 116 Rondell Taylor
  • 118 Alvin Thomas - a member of the Central Florida Officials Association and last fall was assigned to a crew that worked high school playoff games.[14]
  • 119 Joshua Thurow
  • 121 Chuck Townsend
  • 123 John Vachon

Side Judges[]

  • 8 Randall Beesley
  • 16 Paul Caldera
  • 26 Lance Easley - best known for his controversial ruling on the final play of the 2012 Green Bay Packers–Seattle Seahawks game on September 24, 2012.[18]
  • 33 Regan Foster
  • 38 Jeffrey Garvin
  • 41 Timothy Griffin
  • 136 Steve Hendley
  • 55 Kent Intagliata
  • Craig Patrick
  • 79 Marty Peters
  • 78 Kevin Peloquin
  • 85 Mike Riley
  • 108 Steve Stone
  • 110 Brian Stropolo - Before the week two game between the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers, Stropolo was removed from his role for the game after it was revealed that he was a Saints fan.[19]
  • 111 Dwayne Strozier - Has worked Division III football for 12 years. So. Cal. Football Association (Junior College)[15]
  • Gregory Sweeney
  • 120 Guy Trawick
  • 130 Barry Wilson

Field Judges[]

  • 15 Brian Burkhart
  • 135 Arthur Cook
  • 24 Raymond Dobson
  • 31 Larry Farina
  • 34 Thaddious Foster
  • 51 Jeff Hopf
  • 57 Eric Joe - Worked High School football in the Sacramento Area (NCOA) and Junior College in Northern California.
  • 71 Keith Norman
  • 72 John O'Brien
  • 82 Bob Powell
  • 83 Derra Ramsey
  • Tone Robinson
  • 89 Jeff Sadorus
  • 102 Richard Simmons
  • 105 Rusty Spindel - 25 years prior experience in BCS (Division I) conferences. He officiated in the umpire position as early as 1992 in the Big East. Apparently retired from C-USA in 2004.[15] Longtime official in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, working several state championship games.
  • Steve Stone
  • 122 George Trout - As recently as last year, he was working as an official in the collegiate I-AA Northeast Football Conference.[14]
  • 125 Randy Weissenhofer
  • 127 Calvin White
  • 139 Henry Zaborniak - Assistant Commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.[20]

Back Judges[]

  • 5 Chris Atterberry
  • 6 Larry Babcock
  • 14 Craig Burd
  • 21 Jeff Corley
  • 84 Derrick Rhone-Dunn - Has worked Arena Football games. Also has officiated high profile collegiate games, including the 2007 Sugar Bowl[21]
  • 32 Michael Fischer
  • 43 Dave Hale
  • 48 Greg Hay
  • 56 Bobby Jackson - Worked Referee three games of 2012 NFL preseason. Referee and Back Judge in FCS (formerly Div I-AA) SWAC since 2008; 2000-2007 Div II SIAC as Back Judge, including NCAA Div II playoffs and HBCU Classics; 15 yrs high school career in GA (AAFOA) including 4 State Championships.
  • 61 Mark Kelsay
  • 66 Mike Malito
  • 74 Larry Orrico
  • 98 Aaron Schrein - a high school teacher who has worked as a referee in the Patriot League[14]
  • 94 Peter Shafer
  • 117 Bill Theodore
  • Mark Wetzel - So. Cal. Football Association (Junior College). Worked Division II for 5 years.[15]
  • 132 Tom Wohlleber
  • Michael Varner

See also[]

References[]

  1. Murphy, Brian (August 4, 2012). "Minnesota Vikings, NFL turning to replacement officials, for better or worse". Pioneer Press. http://www.twincities.com/vikings/ci_21230619/minnesota-vikings-nfl-turning-replacement-officials-better-or. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  2. "Refs due back Thursday night". ESPN.com. September 27, 2012. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8429885/report-nfl-officials-reach-agreement-end-lockout. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Borden, Same (August 27, 2012). "With Referees Out, N.F.L. Stars Throw Flag on Novice Fill-Ins". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/sports/football/calls-by-some-nfl-replacement-referees-raise-concerns.html. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  4. King, Peter (July 30, 2012). "A League At The Crossroads". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1203306/1/index.htm. Retrieved August 13, 2012. "NFL refs now serve as supervisors of officials for five major conferences—the Big East, Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten and Conference USA—and they won't allow officials from those conferences to work NFL games. The source said that, in solidarity with the NFL zebras, supervisors in other FBS conferences won't allow their officials to work NFL games either"
  5. Battista, Judy (September 27, 2012). "N.F.L. Reaches Labor Deal With Referees". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/sports/football/nfl-and-referees-reach-labor-deal.html?ref=sports&_r=0. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  6. "Roger Goodell: Fans 'deserve better'". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8435645/roger-goodell-says-fans-deserve-better-distractions.
  7. "Boise man lead NFL officiating replacement crew". Idaho Statesman. August 30, 2012. http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/08/30/2250079/boise-man-leads-replacement-crew.html#storylink=cpy. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  8. "Division II official to head replacement crew for Vikings-Jaguars". Pioneer Press (TwinCites.com). September 9, 2012. http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_21499090/division-ii-official-head-replacement-crew-vikings-jaguars. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  9. "Officials come from all corners". cincinnati.com. August 11, 2012. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120810/SPT02/308100143/Officials-come-from-all-corners. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  10. "Replacement refs give Seattle a fourth timeout". USA Today. September 9, 2012. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/09/replacement-refs-give-seattle-a-fourth-timeout/1#.UE6kMLJlQf4. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  11. "Saturday Ravens Leftovers: A Motor City Meltdown". PressBoxOnline.com. August 18, 2012. http://www.pressboxonline.com/blog.cfm?id=5124. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  12. 12.0 12.1 "With Referees Out, N.F.L. Stars Throw Flag on Novice Fill-Ins". New York Times. August 27, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/sports/football/calls-by-some-nfl-replacement-referees-raise-concerns.html. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  13. "Bengals notebook: Secondary is shuffled again". cincinnati.com. August 16, 2012. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120816/SPT02/308160136&Ref=AR. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 "All eyes on NFL replacement officials while real ones negotiate". Denver Post. September 8, 2012. http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_21494655. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "Replacement Refs for Hall of Fame Game". August 9, 2012. http://www.footballzebras.com/2012/08/05/3279/. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  16. "NFL replacement official: 'You are there to do a job'". Amarillo Globe-News. September 2, 2012. http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2012-09-02/you-are-there-do-job. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  17. Ben Austro, "Referee temps have '01 scab experience", Footballzebras.com, August 9, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  18. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/story/2012/09/25/replacement-ref-who-called-td-wasnt-ready-for-div-i-tutor-says/57842200/1
  19. "NFL removes replacement ref for being Saints fan - NFL - SI.com". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/nfl/09/16/replacement-referee-saints.ap/index.html. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  20. "OHSAA Commissioners and Directors". http://www.ohsaa.org/general/biographies/admin_bios.htm. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  21. "NCAA Football Bowl Officials". http://www.referee.com/arbiter/myreferee/content/releases/010807bowls.htm. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
AFC East North South West East North South West NFC
Buffalo Baltimore Houston Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta Arizona
Miami Cincinnati Indianapolis Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Carolina St. Louis
New England Cleveland Jacksonville Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans San Francisco
NY Jets Pittsburgh Tennessee San Diego Washington Minnesota Tampa Bay Seattle
2012 NFL DraftNFL playoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl XLVII
Advertisement