Preparing the Zebras: How NFL Officials Get Ready for the Super Bowl

Preparing for the Super Bowl is a whirlwind for the players, studying game tape and strategic tendencies while managing the chaos of America's biggest sporting event – and the same holds true for the people in black-and-white stripes.

The NFL selects the seven-member officiating crew for the Super Bowl based on their performance during the regular season, when every call is graded. Fifteen-year veteran Ron Torbert will serve as the lead official, or referee, his second Super Bowl assignment.

Before taking the field, the crew will spend hours on Saturday watching plays, reviewing rules and studying film of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, retired officials said.

“I want to look at down, distance and formation, and see what they do,” Jeff Rice, a retired official who worked four Super Bowls, including one as an alternate, told Reuters. “Do they favor the strong side? Do they do counter plays? What are their blocking techniques?”

Along the way, there will be armchair experts at home judging their every move.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Scott Green, the executive director of the referees’ union, both rejected the notion that the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs receive preferential treatment.

Officials need to coordinate seamlessly during the game. On every play, each official is responsible for different players and areas of the field, and the assignments can switch depending on how the offense lines up – and how the play unfolds.

Unlike during the regular season, when officiating crews work together all year, Sunday’s officials are pulled from various groups and have a short time to learn each other’s styles, from nonverbal signals to field positioning.

“There are idiosyncrasies that become second nature when you work with the same crew every week,” said retired official Mike Carey, who served as referee in Super Bowl XLII in 2008, when the New York Giants upset the undefeated New England Patriots.

The officials also use film to focus in on individual players, though they need to be careful not to allow that to influence what they see on the field.

“There’s a big difference between anticipating what’s going to happen and assuming what’s going to happen,” Carey said.

Officials want to be ready for an exotic formation, or a trick play, that might be difficult to call. To that end, the referee will typically meet before the game with the head coaches, who may even diagram an unusual play to make sure they don’t trigger a penalty flag in the moment.

In 2010, the New Orleans Saints famously shocked the world – and their opponents, the Indianapolis Colts – by starting the second half with an unexpected onside kick that they recovered, turning the tide of the game.

One person who was not entirely surprised? Green, the game’s referee, who said he had heard from Saints coach Sean Payton beforehand that the team might use an onside kick at some point.

Unlike in regular season matchups, the referee has to attend a dress rehearsal for the Super Bowl coin toss, a televised moment that usually includes luminaries on the field.

There are around 120 balls ready for use, and the officials aim to replace the ball on every play if possible, building a pile of souvenirs for corporate donors and other VIPs, Rice said.

The seven alternates help as well, retired officials said. For instance, one will be assigned to shadow each head coach, so that any questions – or, perhaps, profanity-laced complaints – can be relayed via headset to the referee without delay.

Like the players, officials’ goal every year is to make it to the Super Bowl. The crew receives Super Bowl rings to commemorate their inclusion.

Rice, whose father officiated in two Super Bowls, recalled getting choked up when he called to tell him the news.

“It’s a completely life-changing event,” Carey said. “It’s a humbling experience – a thrilling experience – but you just start reflecting on all those things that helped you get there.”

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Alistair Bell)