The NFL announced this year’s Super Bowl officiating crew before the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs had even earned their spots in the matchup.
Who is Carl Cheffers?
Carl Cheffers (born July 22, 1960) is an American football official in the National football league (NFL) since the 2000 NFL season, he wears uniform number 51. He has been assigned as the head referee, and he is familiar not only with the Super Bowl spotlight but also with the two teams competing for a championship. The Chiefs-Eagles matchup will mark Cheffers’ third Super Bowl as a head referee.
Read also: Who is Carl Cheffers, NFL referee booed at Kansas City Chiefs vs Las Vegas Raiders?
Cheffers made his Super Bowl debut in 2017 when the New England Patriots pulled off their historic win over the Atlanta Falcons. Four years later, he returned for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl LV win over the Chiefs. On top of two Super Bowls, Cheffers has refereed 10 other playoff games. He already officiated a matchup earlier this postseason when the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round.
Cheffers’ crew called an average of 12.59 penalties/game, 1.48 more than the NFL average. Those penalties equated to an average of 109.94 penalty yards per game, which is 18.68 more than the league average.
Cheffers has a much more extensive history with the Chiefs. His first career game as an NFL side judge was in Kansas City for the Chiefs’ Week 1 game against the Indianapolis Colts to kick off the 2000 season. Eight years later, he debuted as a head referee during the Chiefs’ Week 1 game in New England. As mentioned before, he was also the head ref for the Chiefs’ last Super Bowl appearance two seasons ago. Cheffers refereed two Chiefs games in 2022: a Week 5 Monday Night Football game win against the Las Vegas Raiders and a Week 15 overtime win against the Houston Texans. In all, the Chiefs are 16-7 in the 23 games refereed by Cheffers
