Looking at the racial breakdown of the league helps understand why. NFL officials are the best of the best â only 124 officials currently have the privilege of calling football games at the highest level. NFL referees and all other officials are not full-time league employees, as they technically work part-time from May through the end of each season with a dark period in between. The referees wear a band around their wrists, which also has a band that comes over the top of the hand, through the fingers, and back to the wrist. An all-black team officiated an NFL match for the first time in the competition's history. It doesn't seem to matter which fingers the band goes through, but it normally goes through the middle finger. NFL Referee Jerome Boger *The next Monday Night Football game will go down in history as the first ever to be refereed by an all-Black officiating crew. âThis historic Week 11 crew is a testament to the countless and immeasurable contributions of Black officials to the game," NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said. Itâs ⦠ESPN points out that Boger is one of four Black referee/crew chiefs in the NFL along with Ron Torbert, Adrian Hill and Shawn Smith. I will say that Vincent is at least partly correct, considering that out of 121 I was watching a football (NFL) game with a friend and noticed something odd. Referee Jerome Boger led his six-man crew in Monday's 27-24 ⦠Posted by Primetime Predator on 11/24/20 at 6:28 am to MobileJosh What would have been cool last night, was if 2 refs ⦠The NFL has declared that any players kneeling during the national anthem will now be hit with a fine. re: Have black NFL referees been really shite on over the years? https://www.washingtonpost.com ⺠sports ⺠2020 ⺠11 ⺠17 ⺠nfl-black-referees No one officiates forever, so the NFLâs Officiating Department continuously develops a robust talent pipeline to ensure that the next generation of officials is ready to step up when needed. Photos: The seven Black NFL officials who will make history Monday, Nov. 23, 2020