National Football League
Meet a rookie ref named Cletus
National Football League

Meet a rookie ref named Cletus

Published Oct. 8, 2010 11:40 p.m. ET

Who you should know

Clete Blakeman is the NFL’s newest referee in 2010. He took over for Don Carey, who moved back to his original position of back judge.

Blakeman moves to the referee position in only his third season in the league. That, in itself, is a rarity. I can only remember one referee who came in with less experience and that was Jerry Markbriet, who became a referee in 1977 in just his second season. Markbriet went on to referee in the NFL for 23 years.

Ed Hochuli became a referee after just two seasons and has turned out to be one of the best. Like Hochuli, Blakeman is an attorney. His leadership and attention to detail made him stand out as a referee candidate.

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Blakeman got his start in officiating in 1988 after graduating from the University of Nebraska. He was a quarterback on the football team. His dad was a well-known football and basketball official in the Omaha area, and he asked his son to join his high school football officiating crew shortly after graduation. Blakeman worked his way up to small college games, then to the Big 12 where he eventually became a referee, then on to NFL Europe before being hired by the NFL in 2008 as a side judge.

What you should know

What happens when an official gets injured during a game and has to come out?

There are seven officials on the field, and if one of them gets hurt and has to leave the game, one of the teams is going to benefit. During the regular season, there are no alternate officials assigned to games. An injury means that the crew will be reduced to six.

In the playoffs, the NFL assigns two alternates, and in the Super Bowl, five are assigned. There are five eligible receivers on each play if you don’t count the quarterback, who is considered eligible if he lines up in a shotgun formation. The field judge and side judge are responsible for the widest receiver on their respective sides of the field. The back judge has the tight end in normal situations. The head linesman and line judge each have one of the backs or inside receivers when the offense lines up in four- or five-receiver sets. This way, every receiver is covered by an official to ensure he gets off the line cleanly.

If any official gets hurt and has to leave the game, the officials adjust their positions and eliminate the back judge. That means that you have four sets of eyes covering five receivers. It forces one of the officials to cover two guys at the line of scrimmage. The players that will be least covered are the third receiver in on a trips formation or a single back going from his backfield position into a pass pattern.

There is only so much you can cover when you switch to a six-man officiating crew. In my mind, neither team is going to benefit that much. A defender may get away with grabbing the uncovered receiver or the receiver may get away with blocking downfield before the pass, which is offensive pass interference.

From a historical perspective, the NFL used to be officiated by three-man crews. They went to four officials in 1929, five in 1947, six in 1965 and seven in 1978.

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