The officiating assignments for Super Bowl LIII have officially been handed out and the NFL will be going with veteran John Parry to serve as referee in the game.
Parry, who is in his 12th season as a referee and 18th season overall as an NFL official, will be working the third Super Bowl of his career. Although Parry had a solid season as a ref in 2018, he was involved in one controversy, which came in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Parry was the referee during the Cowboys-Rams game and he baffled a lot of people at home when he blew a play dead near the end of the first half even though Dak Prescott hadn't been tackled. Instead of giving Prescott a chance to make a play, Parry blew his whistle, which meant the play ended with the Rams getting credited for an odd sack.
Here's the "sack" on Dak Prescott.
— Tom Downey (@WhatGoingDowney) January 13, 2019
No idea how it's blown dead and how the refs ignore the obvious head contact ot the QB.
A 100% garbage call by the refs pic.twitter.com/lkIWnEXIlN
After the game, Parry said he made the call to protect the quarterback.
"From my view the quarterback's progress had stopped moving forward," Parry said. "There were hands around him and another defender was coming, so we went in the grasp to protect the quarterback."
In the grasp?! Where was that ref in Super Bowl XLII?
— Tedy Bruschi (@TedyBruschi) January 13, 2019
And, no, Parry was not the referee in Super Bowl XLII.
The Rams probably won't mind that Parry is officiating the game and that's because they've never lost with him as a referee. Here's a look at how the Patriots and Rams have done since 2007 when Parry officiates one of their games (stats via Pro Football Reference).
- Patriots: 9-5 (includes 0-1 in 2018)
- Rams: 7-0 (includes 2-0 in 2018)
Parry started his NFL officiating career as a side judge in 2000, before being promoted to referee in 2007.
This will be the third Super Bowl that Parry has been a part of. The veteran official was also on the field as the referee in Super Bowl XLVI and as a side judge in Super Bowl XLI. For Super Bowl LIII, he'll be joined by umpire Fred Bryan, down judge Ed Camp, field judge Steve Zimmer, line judge Jeff Bergman, side judge Eugene Hall and back judge Terrence Miles.
Super Bowl LIII is set for Feb. 3 and will be televised by CBS. You'll also be able to stream the game for free right here at CBSSports.com and all you'll need to do to watch is bookmark this link.
