Bill Vinovich will be the referee for the officiating staff at Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1 in Glendale, Ariz., the NFL announced Tuesday. (It was initially reported by Football Zebras last week). Vinovich is in his ninth season as an NFL official, and has officiated five playoff games, most recently the Divisional round playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots. He was also the alternate referee for Super Bowl XLVII.
Here’s the Super Bowl 49 referee you probably won’t like
Bill Vinovich worked the Divisional round playoff game between the Ravens and Patriots last Sunday.
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Although the Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys game dominated the officiating headlines last weekend, the Ravens-Patriots matchup was not without controversy. Ravens coach John Harbaugh was mad at the referees for his team not receiving enough notice when the Patriots used some unusual substitution methods and formations. The NFL confirmed that the formations and substitution patterns were legal, but Harbaugh insisted that they were deceptive and gave New England an unfair advantage.
Playoff refs, smh
The assignments for the entire crew were also officially given out by the NFL on Tuesday. Each of the crew members worked one of the Divisional round games, but no more than three were on the same crew together.
Officials in the Super Bowl are required to be ranked in the top tier, according to the vice president of officiating Dean Blandino, and have at least five years of NFL experience with previous postseason assignments. While accuracy is a key determination of these rankings, Blandino has said that he considers other factors as well.
Here is the full crew, as confirmed by Football Zebras:
R: Bill Vinovich
U: Bill Schuster
HL: Dana McKenzie
LJ: Mark Perlman
FJ: Bob Waggoner
SJ: Tom Hill
BJ: Terrence Miles
- Replay official: Mike Wimmer
- Replay assistant: Terry Poulos
- Alternates: Carl Cheffers, Fred Bryan, Rusty Baynes, Todd Prukop, Barry Anderson
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