Why do NFL referees have jersey numbers?
(NEXSTAR) — Jersey numbers can help you identify your favorite NFL player on the field, distinguishing them from their teammates. Those same numbers are also helpful when referees are reporting who caused a flag to be thrown. But what about the numbers NFL referees wear? You can see No. 107 and No. 97 in the photo below from the Black Friday game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders. Kansas City Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub, left, listens in as referee Clay Martin, in white hat, explains a penalty to Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, center, during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs defeated the Raiders, 19-17. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann) Presumably, a game official wouldn’t need to call out the number of their fellow game official. So why do they have a number at all? While the jersey numbers worn by players traditionally signified their position — 0 through 19 for quarterbacks and 50 through 79 for offensive and defensive linemen (the latter can also use numbers between 90 and 99), for example — there is no secret code behind the numbers referees wear. They serve the same purpose, though: to help identify them. According to Referee, a sports officiating magazine, NFL officials have been wearing numbers since 1942. Some numbers have been assigned, while others were allowed to pick their number from a list of those not yet taken. Some officials have changed numbers over time, often because the official wearing the number they want has retired. Dean Blandino, who served as the NFL’s vice president of officiating from 2013 through 2017, explained to Referee that, during his tenure, some numbers would be shelved after an official’s retirement. Nos. 1 and 13 were off-limits for years but were later assigned to Scott Novak and Patrick Turner, respectively. Down judge Patrick Turner (13) talks with line judge Daniel Gallagher (85) during an NFL football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne) The NFL provides a roster of its officials, sorted by their field position. There are seven officials in every NFL game, and they are denoted based on where they stand during play and the letters on their jerseys. In the picture above, for example, No. 107 — Dave Hawkshaw, according to the NFL’s roster. — has an FJ on his back, marking him as the field judge. No. 97, Brian Perry, is the line judge, per the LJ on their jersey. The official wearing the white hat is the referee, Clay Martin, and has an R on his back. The other officiating positions are demarcated in similar manners: umpire is U; down judge is DJ, side judge is SJ, and back judge is BJ. According to Blandino, the number can also help to identify the official who made certain calls if the assignment details and the official’s name aren’t immediately available. In case you’re curious, there are 121 numbers currently being worn by officials ranging from Novak’s No. 1 to Robin DeLorenzo at No. 134. Unassigned numbers include 48, 61, 64, 65, 69, 70 (more on this in a moment), 71, 94, 108, 116, 123, 128, and 129. Line judge Robin Delorenzo (134) looks on during an NFL football game between the Carolina Panthers and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman) Like an NFL player, an NFL official’s number can become part of their identity. Jerry Markbreit previously told Football Zebras that even in his retirement, he was still referred to as “Nine,” the number he wore while officiating for the league from 1976 to 1998. “When the NFL assigns you a number, that number becomes you,” Markbreit told the outlet.There is one number that no NFL official will be able to wear again: No. 70. The NFL retired the number after its previous owner, Jerry Seeman, died in 2013. He spent 15 years as an official before being named the NFL’s director of officiating, a role he held for a decade. To honor his legacy, his number was retired and, for part of that season, all NFL officials wore a patch bearing his initials on their hats.
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(NEXSTAR) — Jersey numbers can help you identify your favorite NFL player on the field, distinguishing them from their teammates. Those same numbers are also helpful when referees are reporting who caused a flag to be thrown.
But what about the numbers NFL referees wear? You can see No. 107 and No. 97 in the photo below from the Black Friday game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.
Kansas City Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub, left, listens in as referee Clay Martin, in white hat, explains a penalty to Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, center, during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs defeated the Raiders, 19-17. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
Presumably, a game official wouldn’t need to call out the number of their fellow game official. So why do they have a number at all?
While the jersey numbers worn by players traditionally signified their position — 0 through 19 for quarterbacks and 50 through 79 for offensive and defensive linemen (the latter can also use numbers between 90 and 99), for example — there is no secret code behind the numbers referees wear.
They serve the same purpose, though: to help identify them.
According to Referee, a sports officiating magazine, NFL officials have been wearing numbers since 1942. Some numbers have been assigned, while others were allowed to pick their number from a list of those not yet taken.
Some officials have changed numbers over time, often because the official wearing the number they want has retired.
Dean Blandino, who served as the NFL’s vice president of officiating from 2013 through 2017, explained to Referee that, during his tenure, some numbers would be shelved after an official’s retirement. Nos. 1 and 13 were off-limits for years but were later assigned to Scott Novak and Patrick Turner, respectively.
Down judge Patrick Turner (13) talks with line judge Daniel Gallagher (85) during an NFL football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
The NFL provides a roster of its officials, sorted by their field position.
There are seven officials in every NFL game, and they are denoted based on where they stand during play and the letters on their jerseys.
In the picture above, for example, No. 107 — Dave Hawkshaw, according to the NFL’s roster. — has an FJ on his back, marking him as the field judge. No. 97, Brian Perry, is the line judge, per the LJ on their jersey. The official wearing the white hat is the referee, Clay Martin, and has an R on his back.
The other officiating positions are demarcated in similar manners: umpire is U; down judge is DJ, side judge is SJ, and back judge is BJ.
According to Blandino, the number can also help to identify the official who made certain calls if the assignment details and the official’s name aren’t immediately available.
In case you’re curious, there are 121 numbers currently being worn by officials ranging from Novak’s No. 1 to Robin DeLorenzo at No. 134. Unassigned numbers include 48, 61, 64, 65, 69, 70 (more on this in a moment), 71, 94, 108, 116, 123, 128, and 129.
Line judge Robin Delorenzo (134) looks on during an NFL football game between the Carolina Panthers and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Like an NFL player, an NFL official’s number can become part of their identity. Jerry Markbreit previously told Football Zebras that even in his retirement, he was still referred to as “Nine,” the number he wore while officiating for the league from 1976 to 1998.
“When the NFL assigns you a number, that number becomes you,” Markbreit told the outlet.
There is one number that no NFL official will be able to wear again: No. 70. The NFL retired the number after its previous owner, Jerry Seeman, died in 2013. He spent 15 years as an official before being named the NFL’s director of officiating, a role he held for a decade. To honor his legacy, his number was retired and, for part of that season, all NFL officials wore a patch bearing his initials on their hats.
