By Tony Softli
The NFL released its roster of game officials for the 2017 season Thursday (June 29th) which included eight first-year NFL officials in the field of 124.
Per NFL Communications “Line judge Brain Bolinger (Big Ten), line judge Mike Carr (Big Ten), side judge Ryan Dickson (Pac-12), down judge David Oliver (SEC), field judge Mearle Robinson (Pac-12), field judge Brad Rogers (SEC), line judge Danny Short (ACC), and umpire Steve Woods (Big Ten) will make their NFL officiating debuts this season.
All 17 referees from 2016 will return in 2017 and lead seven-person on-field officiating crews, led by the dean of NFL officials, Walt Coleman, who enters his 29th season”.
The NFL has assigned a instant replay official to work as part of the officiating crews, including the first female replay official in League History her name is Terri Valenti. She is a current employee in instant replay for the NFL for the past five years holding the tile of communicator and replay assistant prior to her promotion. Her background also includes officiating high school, collegiate and professional level of competition (Arena Football League, United Football League, International football leagues).
The NFL also announced that twelve officials will rotate to new positions in 2017. This change is an effort to build strength within the crews as well as balance. The goal is to ensure there are now weak links in the chain.
One change is in effect this year as well, the position known as “head linesman” will now be called “down judge” beginning in 2017. The down judge will ensure the correct down and distance.
Three sets of fathers and sons make up the 2017 roster as well. Walt Coleman/Walt IV; Ed Hochuli/Shawn; Steve Freeman/Brad;
Four sets of brothers are included in the roster build; Allen and Rusty Baynes; Jeff and Jerry Bergman; Carl, Dino and Perry Paganelli; Gene and Tony Steratore.
Two former NFL players now officials round out the roster in Steve Freeman and Phil McKinnely.
The 2017 NFL roster of officials grid below also includes crew assignments, schedule conflicts, etc
No. | Name | Pos. | College | Crew Assignment | NFL Experience
(including 2017) |
122 | Brad Allen | R | Pembroke State | Allen | 4 |
20 | Barry Anderson | U | North Carolina State | Wrolstad | 11 |
66 | Walt Anderson | R | Texas | Anderson | 22 |
108 | Gary Arthur | LJ | Wright State | Steratore | 21 |
72 | Michael Banks | FJ | Illinois State | McAulay | 16 |
56 | Allen Baynes | SJ | Auburn | Hussey | 10 |
59 | Rusty Baynes | LJ | Auburn-Montgomery | Hochuli | 8 |
32 | Jeff Bergman | DJ | Robert Morris | Triplette | 26 |
91 | Jerry Bergman | DJ | Robert Morris | McAulay | 16 |
34 | Clete Blakeman | R | Nebraska | Blakeman | 10 |
23 | Jerome Boger | R | Morehouse | Boger | 14 |
40 | Brian Bolinger | LJ | Indiana State | Allen | 1 |
18 | Byron Boston | LJ | Austin | Anderson | 23 |
74 | Derick Bowers | DJ | East Central | Coleman | 15 |
98 | Greg Bradley | DJ | Tennessee | Hochuli | 9 |
43 | Terry Brown | SJ* | Tennessee | Triplette | 12 |
11 | Fred Bryan | U | Northern Iowa | Allen | 9 |
86 | Jimmy Buchanan | FJ | South Carolina State | Hussey | 9 |
134 | Ed Camp | DJ | William Paterson | Boger | 18 |
63 | Mike Carr | LJ | Wisconsin | Boger | 1 |
60 | Gary Cavaletto | SJ | Hancock | Vinovich | 15 |
41 | Boris Cheek | SJ | Morgan State | Morelli | 22 |
51 | Carl Cheffers | R | California-Irvine | Cheffers | 18 |
16 | Kevin Codey | LJ | Western New England | Coleman | 3 |
95 | James Coleman | SJ | Arkansas | Coleman | 13 |
65 | Walt Coleman | R | Arkansas | Coleman | 29 |
87 | Walt Coleman IV | SJ | Southern Methodist | Boger | 3 |
99 | Tony Corrente | R | Cal State-Fullerton | Corrente | 23 |
94 | Hugo Cruz | DJ | Texas-Pan American | Blakeman | 3 |
25 | Ryan Dickson | SJ | Utah | Corrente | 1 |
27 | Lee Dyer | BJ | Tennessee-Chattanooga | Wrolstad | 15 |
76 | Alan Eck | U* | Bloomsburg | Corrente | 2 |
3 | Scott Edwards | SJ* | Alabama | Torbert | 19 |
81 | Roy Ellison | U | Savannah State | Steratore | 15 |
61 | Keith Ferguson | BJ | San Jose State | Hussey | 18 |
64 | Dan Ferrell | U | Cal State-Fullerton | 15 | |
71 | Ruben Fowler | U | Huston-Tillotson | Triplette | 12 |
88 | Brad Freeman | SJ* | Mississippi State | Cheffers | 4 |
133 | Steve Freeman | BJ | Mississippi State | Triplette | 17 |
80 | Greg Gautreaux | FJ* | S.W. Louisiana | Triplette | 16 |
128 | Ramon George | U | Lenoir-Rhyne | Blakeman | 2 |
103 | Eugene Hall | FJ | North Texas | Boger | 4 |
49 | Rich Hall | U | Arizona | Boger | 14 |
125 | Laird Hayes | SJ | Princeton | Anderson | 23 |
93 | Scott Helverson | BJ | Iowa | Hochuli | 15 |
29 | Adrian Hill | SJ* | Buffalo | Steratore | 8 |
97 | Tom Hill | FJ | Carson Newman | Allen | 19 |
28 | Mark Hittner | DJ | Pittsburg State | Wrolstad | 21 |
85 | Ed Hochuli | R | Texas-El Paso | Hochuli | 28 |
83 | Shawn Hochuli | BJ | Claremont | Allen | 4 |
82 | Buddy Horton | FJ | Oregon State | Corrente | 19 |
37 | Jim Howey | DJ/LJ | Erskine | 19 | |
35 | John Hussey | R | Idaho State | Hussey | 16 |
117 | John Jenkins | FJ | St. Mary’s | Anderson | 4 |
101 | Carl Johnson | LJ | Nicholls State | McAulay | 14 |
55 | Alex Kemp | SJ | Central Michigan | Hochuli | 4 |
121 | Paul King | U | Nicholls State | Torbert | 9 |
21 | Jeff Lamberth | SJ | Texas A&M | Wrolstad | 16 |
73 | Joe Larrew | FJ* | St. Louis | Blakeman | 16 |
2 | Bart Longson | LJ | Brigham Young | Corrente | 3 |
89 | Jon Lucivansky | FJ | Minnesota | Vinovich | 9 |
10 | Julian Mapp | LJ | Grambling State | Wrolstad | 9 |
107 | Ron Marinucci | LJ | Glassboro State | Hussey | 21 |
19 | Clay Martin | U | Oklahoma Baptist | Cheffers | 3 |
39 | Rich Martinez | BJ | Canisius | McAulay | 4 |
77 | Terry McAulay | R | Louisiana State | McAulay | 20 |
8 | Dana McKenzie | LJ | Toledo | Blakeman | 10 |
110 | Phil McKinnely | DJ | UCLA | Vinovich | 16 |
48 | Jim Mello | DJ | Northeastern | Allen | 14 |
118 | Dave Meslow | FJ* | Augsburg | Parry | 7 |
78 | Greg Meyer | BJ | Texas Christian | Vinovich | 16 |
115 | Tony Michalek | U | Indiana | Hussey | 16 |
111 | Terrence Miles | BJ | Arizona State | Coleman | 10 |
120 | Jonah Monroe | SJ | Arkansas | McAulay | 3 |
135 | Pete Morelli | R | St. Mary’s | Morelli | 21 |
92 | Bryan Neale | U | Indiana | Morelli | 4 |
1 | Scott Novak | FJ* | Phoenix | Coleman | 4 |
24 | David Oliver | DJ | Baker | Steratore | 1 |
124 | Carl Paganelli | U | Michigan State | Anderson | 19 |
105 | Dino Paganelli | BJ | Aquinas | Steratore | 12 |
46 | Perry Paganelli | BJ | Hope | Parry | 20 |
132 | John Parry | R | Purdue | Parry | 18 |
17 | Steve Patrick | BJ | Jacksonville State | Blakeman | 4 |
15 | Rick Patterson | FJ/SJ | Wofford | 22 | |
79 | Kent Payne | LJ* | Nebraska Wesleyan | Cheffers | 14 |
131 | Mark Pellis | U | Allegheny | Parry | 4 |
9 | Mark Perlman | LJ | Salem | Vinovich | 17 |
6 | Jerod Phillips | DJ | Northeastern State | Anderson | 2 |
47 | Tim Podraza | LJ | Nebraska | Morelli | 10 |
109 | Dyrol Prioleau | SJ | Johnson C. Smith | Blakeman | 11 |
30 | Todd Prukop | BJ | Cal State-Fullerton | Corrente | 9 |
5 | Jim Quirk | BJ | Middlebury | Cheffers | 8 |
44 | Jeff Rice | U | Northwestern | Coleman | 23 |
31 | Mearl Robinson | FJ | Air Force | Cheffers | 1 |
126 | Brad Rogers | FJ | Lubbock Christian | Morelli | 1 |
50 | Aaron Santi | FJ | Southern Oregon | Torbert | 3 |
129 | Bill Schuster | U | Alfred | 18 | |
45 | Jeff Seeman | LJ | Minnesota | Parry | 16 |
104 | Dale Shaw | FJ | Allegheny | Hochuli | 5 |
113 | Danny Short | LJ | North Carolina-Charlotte | Triplette | 1 |
14 | Shawn Smith | U | Ferris State | Hochuli | 3 |
90 | Mike Spanier | DJ | St. Cloud State | Parry | 19 |
12 | Greg Steed | BJ | Howard | Morelli | 15 |
84 | Mark Steinkerchner | LJ | Akron | Torbert | 24 |
22 | Steve Stelljes | DJ | Friends | Morelli | 16 |
68 | Tom Stephan | DJ/LJ | Pittsburg State | 19 | |
114 | Gene Steratore | R | Kent State | Steratore | 15 |
112 | Tony Steratore | BJ | California, Pa. | Boger | 18 |
102 | Bruce Stritesky | U | Embry Riddle | Vinovich | 12 |
100 | Tom Symonette | DJ* | Florida | Cheffers | 14 |
53 | Sarah Thomas | DJ* | Mobile | Torbert | 3 |
62 | Ron Torbert | R | Michigan State | Torbert | 8 |
42 | Jeff Triplette | R | Wake Forest | Triplette | 22 |
13 | Patrick Turner | DJ | Cal State-Long Beach | Corrente | 4 |
52 | Bill Vinovich | R | San Diego | Vinovich | 13 |
123 | Ed Walker | DJ | San Jose State | Hussey | 4 |
26 | Jabir Walker | SJ | Murray State | Allen | 3 |
7 | Keith Washington | SJ | Virginia Military Institute | Parry | 10 |
116 | Mike Weatherford | FJ | Oklahoma State | Steratore | 16 |
119 | Greg Wilson | BJ | USC | Anderson | 10 |
54 | Steve Woods | U | Wabash | McAulay | 1 |
4 | Craig Wrolstad | R | Washington | Wrolstad | 15 |
38 | Greg Yette | BJ | Howard | Torbert | 8 |
33 | Steve Zimmer | FJ | Hofstra | Wrolstad | 21 |
*Denotes new position for 2017
Follow Tony Softli;
TWITTER: @SoftliSEA
Website: TonySoftli.com
Email: CattleyaMedia@gmail.com