Get to know Super Bowl LVII head referee Carl Cheffers originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Super Bowl LVII will be played by teams wearing green and white, and hopefully it won’t be decided by people wearing black and white.
The NFL announced this year’s Super Bowl officiating crew before the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs had even earned their spots in the matchup. The group of eight has combined to work 10 Super Bowls with three of the members making their debut in the big game.
Carl Cheffers has been assigned the head referee, and he is familiar not only with the Super Bowl spotlight, but also the two teams competing for a championship.
Before this year’s Super Bowl kicks off in Glendale, Ariz., here’s some background on Cheffers.
How long has Carl Cheffers been an NFL referee?
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Cheffers entered the NFL as a side judge in 2000. He held the role for eight seasons before becoming a head referee in 2008.
How many Super Bowls has Carl Cheffers refereed?
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The Chiefs-Eagles matchup will mark Cheffers’ third Super Bowl as a head referee.
Cheffers made his Super Bowl debut in 2017 when the New England Patriots pulled off their historic comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. Four years later, he returned for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Super Bowl LV win over the Chiefs.
On top of two Super Bowls, Cheffers has refereed 10 other playoffs games. He already officiated a matchup earlier this postseason when the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round.
Does Carl Cheffers call more penalties than other referees?
Cheffers’ crew called an average of 12.59 penalties per game, 1.48 more than the NFL average. Those penalties equated to an average of 109.94 penalty yards per game, which is 18.68 more than the league average.
What is the Eagles’ record when Carl Cheffers is refereeing?
The Eagles are 6-8 in games refereed by Cheffers. That record includes a divisional round loss to the New Orleans Saints during the 2018 playoffs.
Cheffers was on the field with the Eagles less than a month ago for the team’s Week 18 contest against the New York Giants.
What is the Chiefs’ record when Carl Cheffers is refereeing?
Cheffers has a much more extensive history with the Chiefs.
His first career game as an NFL side judge was in Kansas City for the Chiefs’ Week 1 game against the Indianapolis Colts to kick off the 2000 season. Eight years later, he debuted as a head referee during the Chiefs’ Week 1 game in New England. As mentioned before, he was also the head ref for the Chiefs’ last Super Bowl appearance two seasons ago.
Cheffers refereed two Chiefs games in 2022: a Week 5 Monday Night Football game win against the Las Vegas Raiders and a Week 15 overtime win against the Houston Texans.
In all, the Chiefs are 16-7 in the 23 games refereed by Cheffers.
Full Super Bowl LVII officiating crew
Here are the eight Super Bowl officials and their roles:
- Carl Cheffers, referee
- Roy Ellison, umpire
- Jerod Phillips, down judge
- Jeff Bergman, line judge
- John Jenkins, field judge
- Eugene Hall, side judge
- Dino Paganelli, back judge
- Mark Butterworth, replay official
