Longtime referee Jerome Boger retiring, NFL says

NFL referee Jerome Boger is retiring, the league announced Thursday. The NFL’s longest tenured crew chief, Boger is one of 10 officials who have announced their retirement this offseason.

Boger joined the league in 2004 as a line judge and was promoted to referee in 2006. The NFL selected him as the Super Bowl XLVII referee, a game in which he managed a 34-minute delay because of a power outage at the Superdome in New Orleans.

During the 2022 season, Boger was involved in a controversial roughing the passer call against Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. According to Boger, Jarrett unnecessarily threw Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady to the ground. The flag resulted in a key third-down conversion as the Buccaneers held on for a 21-15 victory.

The league did not immediately name a replacement for Boger or any of the other departures.

The NFL announced three other retirements from the officiating ranks Thursday: Jerry Bergman, Walt Coleman IV and Steven Patrick. In February, it announced the retirements of Jeff Bergman, Mark Hittner, Perry Paganelli, Keith Ferguson, Michael Banks and Jeff Lamberth.

Lamberth drew scrutiny from the NFL during the 2022 season for approaching Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans and asking him to write something on a piece of paper. The NFL did not issue discipline but said it had reminded Lambeth and another official of “the importance of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety when interacting with players, coaches, and club staff on gameday.”