From PFT via ESPN's Hashmarks blog;
NEMMERS, AUSTIN DONE AS REFS
Posted by Michael David Smith on April 2, 2008, 8:01 a.m.
The NFL’s two most experienced referees will not be returning to the field in 2008, as Larry Nemmers is becoming the NFL’s replay director and Gerry Austin, who serves as Conference USA director of officials, is leaving the league.
Austin had been an on-field official for 26 years, Nemmers for 23. NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira said they will be replaced by Carl Cheffers and Al Riveron, both of whom were side judges last year.
“Carl has been extremely successful on the field as a side judge,” Pereira told Mike Sando of ESPN.com. “He is very knowledgeable of the rules, a good rules guy. Strong presence. He was part of Larry Nemmers’ crew and he was clearly a crew leader. When we first saw Carl, we saw referee experience from him even though he had refereed basically at the small-college level.
“Al Riveron was a great referee in college. We brought in Al to be a referee in this league, but we wanted him to get a lay of the NFL land, so we put him as a deep sideline person for the three or four years he has been in the league. He offers us that referee experience he has always had. And we are terrifically happy to have our first Hispanic referee. We think it’s just great.”
It is not known whether on-field performance had any part in the departure of Nemmers and Austin, but Sando reports that Austin’s crew was remarkable both for assessing the fewest penalties of any crew in the league last season (about nine per game), and for Austin making a league-high 13 replay reversals. While coaches win less than 40 percent of their challenges, Austin almost always reversed when a coach challenged, making 11 reversals in the 14 replay challenges he viewed last year. Sando’s review of Nemmers’ officiating statistics did not reveal anything unusual.
Bill Carollo and Walt Coleman, both of whom just completed their 19th seasons, are now the NFL’s two most experienced referees, followed by Mike Carey and Ed Hochuli, both of whom just completed their 18th seasons.
Nemmers
Austin
NEMMERS, AUSTIN DONE AS REFS
Posted by Michael David Smith on April 2, 2008, 8:01 a.m.
The NFL’s two most experienced referees will not be returning to the field in 2008, as Larry Nemmers is becoming the NFL’s replay director and Gerry Austin, who serves as Conference USA director of officials, is leaving the league.
Austin had been an on-field official for 26 years, Nemmers for 23. NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira said they will be replaced by Carl Cheffers and Al Riveron, both of whom were side judges last year.
“Carl has been extremely successful on the field as a side judge,” Pereira told Mike Sando of ESPN.com. “He is very knowledgeable of the rules, a good rules guy. Strong presence. He was part of Larry Nemmers’ crew and he was clearly a crew leader. When we first saw Carl, we saw referee experience from him even though he had refereed basically at the small-college level.
“Al Riveron was a great referee in college. We brought in Al to be a referee in this league, but we wanted him to get a lay of the NFL land, so we put him as a deep sideline person for the three or four years he has been in the league. He offers us that referee experience he has always had. And we are terrifically happy to have our first Hispanic referee. We think it’s just great.”
It is not known whether on-field performance had any part in the departure of Nemmers and Austin, but Sando reports that Austin’s crew was remarkable both for assessing the fewest penalties of any crew in the league last season (about nine per game), and for Austin making a league-high 13 replay reversals. While coaches win less than 40 percent of their challenges, Austin almost always reversed when a coach challenged, making 11 reversals in the 14 replay challenges he viewed last year. Sando’s review of Nemmers’ officiating statistics did not reveal anything unusual.
Bill Carollo and Walt Coleman, both of whom just completed their 19th seasons, are now the NFL’s two most experienced referees, followed by Mike Carey and Ed Hochuli, both of whom just completed their 18th seasons.
Nemmers
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Austin
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