Who is the referee and the officiating team for Super Bowl 2024?
Experienced Super Bowl referee Bill Vinovich will be in charge of the Super Bowl LVIII officiating team. We take a look at who they all are.
It is almost go time on Super Bowl LVIII and the officiating staff in charge of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers has been announced.
The complete team will be made up of experienced referee Bill Vinovich, and supported by umpire Terry Killens, down judge Patrick Holt, line judge Mark Perlman, field judge Tom Hill, side judge Allen Baynes, back judge Brad Freeman, and replay official Mike Chase.
This crew has some Super Bowl experience with Perlman working Super Bowls XL, XLIII, and XLIX and Hill working XL, XLIX and LII being the most experienced of the lot with three Super Bowls each under their belt. Vinovich has two Super Bowl appearances in XLIX and LIV, while Mike Chase has one in Super Bowl LIV. For Killens, Holt, Baynes, and Freeman, this will be their first Super Bowl.
In the case of Terry Killens, at kickoff he will become the first person to both play in and referee a Super Bowl. A Penn State graduate, Killens was a linebacker who played in Super Bowl XXXIV with the Tennessee Titans.
Bill Vinovich is not without controversy
Mistakes are common among NFL officials and Vinovich’s career is not without controversy. He was responsible for the infamous 2019 NFC Championship Game no-call when after Nickell Robey-Coleman hit Tommylee Lewis in a clear example of pass interference.
The Rams ended up winning the game, knocking out number one seed New Orleans. The NFL begrudgingly admitted the error and allowed, for one season only, pass interference to be challenged.