Who is the referee for the 2024 Super Bowl? All you need to know about Bill Vinovich and his crew
The NFL announced who will be charged with the task of officiating its biggest game and with that, we’re taking a look at who it is and what to expect.
Though we’re still unsure as to which teams will be playing in this year’s Super Bowl - it’s been a wild lead-up to the Conference championship games - we do know who will be in charge of refereeing when the last two teams standing take to the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 11th.
Bill Vinovich will lead the Super Bowl refereeing crew
According to an official announcement from the NFL on Tuesday, Bill Vinovich will be the lead referee in a crew that will also include 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. Interestingly, NFL Senior Vice President of Football and International Communications Michael Signora also noted after the announcement, that Killens is set to become the first person to have played in and officiate a Super Bowl.
The former linebacker played seven seasons in the NFL with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks. Indeed, he was on the Titans team that lost to the then St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, a game in which he recorded a tackle on special teams. Now 49 years old, the former third-round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft has been a football official since 2013, however, it was just a few years ago in 2019 when he joined the ranks of the NFL.
This is Bill Vinovich’s third Super Bowl
Before getting into the details of the matter, it’s important to understand that the NFL selects its officiating crews for the Super Bowl based on merit. To that end, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that according to ESPN’s Stats and Information, Vinovich’s crews have averaged the “fewest, or close to the fewest” flags per game (13.4) during the 2023 NFL regular season. This is to say that he along with his teammates for the big game will quite literally be the best of the best. It also shouldn’t be surprising that this is the veteran referee’s third time covering the Super Bowl and his second time in the last five years. Before this, he officiated in Super Bowl XLIX (New England Patriots vs. Seahawks) and Super Bowl LIV (San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs).
There’s some controversy in Bill Vinovich’s past
If his name and face are familiar, it’s probably because Vinovich was the lead referee for what is infamously known as the “NOLA No-call” in the NFC championship game of 2019 when Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman escaped with what appeared to be clear defensive pass interference on New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis in the last moments of the game. You will probably recall that the Rams went on to win in overtime, but would later lose to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl just two weeks later. Compounding the situation was the fact that Commissioner Roger Goodell would later admit that the call had been missed due to ‘human error.’