Esteemed NFL Referee Announces Retirement from League
NFL Referee Jerome Boger Retires from League, Joins 10 Other Officials in Departing This Offseason
The league announced on Thursday that the NFL's longest-tenured crew chief, Jerome Boger, is retiring. Boger began his NFL career in 2004 as a line judge and was subsequently promoted to referee in 2006. He officiated the Super Bowl XLVII game in which a power outage caused a 34-minute delay at the Superdome in New Orleans.
During the 2022 season, Boger made a controversial roughing the passer call against Grady Jarrett, a defensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons. Boger claimed that Jarrett unnecessarily threw Tom Brady, the quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to the ground. The call led to a pivotal third-down conversion, and the Buccaneers held on to win 21-15. The NFL has not yet named a replacement for Boger or any of the other retiring officials.
In addition to Boger, the NFL announced the retirements of Jerry Bergman, Walt Coleman IV, and Steven Patrick from the officiating ranks on Thursday. The retirements of Jeff Bergman, Mark Hittner, Perry Paganelli, Keith Ferguson, Michael Banks, and Jeff Lamberth were announced in February.
Lamberth faced criticism from the NFL during the 2022 season after approaching Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans and asking him to write something on a piece of paper. The NFL did not discipline Lamberth, but reminded him and another official of "the importance of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety when interacting with players, coaches, and club staff on gameday."
| POLL | ||
2 MARS | 47 ANSWERS Esteemed NFL Referee Announces Retirement from League How would you grade the NFL situation regarding the officials? | ||
| A | 5 | 10.6 % |
| B | 12 | 25.5 % |
| C | 15 | 31.9 % |
| D | 15 | 31.9 % |
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