The NFL has hired 21 full-time game officials from among the current 124-person roster of officials, the NFL and NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) jointly announced Wednesday.
The 21 full-time officials come from all seven on-field officiating positions and represent a collaborative initiative intended to promote the common goal of improving every aspect of NFL officiating.
In an effort to improve consistency, efficiency and accuracy, the full-time game officials will work throughout the calendar year on game preparation and game administration, analyzing current game trends, communicating with the officiating roster, and assisting to ensure that there is a qualified pipeline of future officials through scouting efforts.
"We believe that we will learn a great deal over the course of this initial year working with the full-time game officials," said NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Alberto Riveron. "Our collective goal is to make a positive impact on NFL officiating overall."
"We are supportive of providing our members the opportunity to voluntarily commit additional time to NFL officiating, especially in the offseason," said NFLRA Executive Director Scott Green. "This initiative is the result of extensive discussion and planning, and the NFLRA looks forward to working with the NFL to test and evaluate this new approach over the next year."
The NFL and NFLRA agreed to experiment with full-time officials as part of the last Collective Bargaining Agreement before last month announcing the intention to hire full-time game officials for the 2017 season.
A look at the 21 full-time officials by position:
Brad Allen, Referee
Walt Anderson, Referee
Jerome Boger, Referee
Pete Morelli, Referee
Barry Anderson, Umpire
Dan Ferrell, Umpire
Bill Schuster, Umpire
Derick Bowers, Down Judge
Ed Camp, Down Judge
Rusty Baynes, Line Judge
Julian Mapp, Line Judge
Mark Perlman, Line Judge
Mark Steinkerchner, Line Judge
Tom Hill, Field Judge
Steve Zimmer, Field Judge
Boris Cheek, Side Judge
Jonah Monroe, Side Judge
Steve Freeman, Back Judge
Scott Helverson, Back Judge
Terrence Miles, Back Judge
Greg Steed, Back Judge
