LAS VEGAS — Gene Steratore has a difficult job. NFL fans felt officiating may have hit its nadir during the 2023 season. Steratore — a 15-year veteran referee and CBS Sports’ rules analyst — will be tasked with explaining any questionable calls during Super Bowl 58.
Gene Steratore Explains the Difficulty of Officiating an NFL Game
Steratore was the NFL’s lead referee for Super Bowl LII, when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots in a 41-33 shootout.
This year, he’ll be in the booth alongside CBS commentators Jim Nantz and Tony Romo — but that doesn’t mean Steratore has any less sympathy for the referees calling this year’s Super Bowl.
“I think there’s a lot of positivity from my position,” Steratore told Pro Football Network during Super Bowl week. “You can at least enhance the abilities that these officials are making in real-time.
“But then, with that goes a slow-motion replay and HD that shows a miss that looks so simple from your couch at home. And at times, I empathize with it. At times, I’m told that you lean to the officials all the time.”
It’s a balancing act that Steratore has to manage on game days.
“When you watch a replay one frame at a time, and you go on the field, and you make a decision within a fraction of a second, it’s not easy to be evaluated when you really didn’t get to see it that way in real-time.
“But I think officiating is always an imperfection. It’s an imperfect sport. It’s a part of the game. The same applies for the players and coaches.
“It’s the human element at times and the imperfection that just occurs in everything we do. I think that’s why we love the game so much. It’s not scripted.”
The NFL landscape is much different now than it was when Steratore entered the league more than two decades ago. With endless replays driving the online conversation, referees are under more pressure than ever.
“Look, even when I came into the league 20 or 25 years ago, social media wasn’t the platform that it is now,” Steratore said. “Quite frankly, there were no rules analysts when I started officiating in the NFL.
” … At this point in time in our society, we kind of gravitate to those sensational things that can create a bang, and this is part of that.”
Does Steratore have any advice for the referees set to call Sunday’s Super Bowl?
MORE: Cincinnati Native and Former NFL LB Set To Make History at Super Bowl 58
“Look at any time you get into this space, you can’t run from the fact that it’s just another game — it isn’t.
“And especially around Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, when those officials get to this city, the first thing that referee will do, I would assume, is let his crew know this isn’t just any other game.
“You don’t hide from them, so you embrace the pressure. You understand that the decisions you’re going to make this Sunday are going to go down in history. This is our entertainment at this point in our history, right?”
A defensive holding call essentially ended last year’s Super Bowl, allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to run out the clock against the Philadelphia Eagles before kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired.
Will another penalty determine the end of this year’s final game?
“The decision you make or may not make in this potentially will live with you the rest of your life. You have to accept it. You embrace the pressure, but you don’t hide from that.”
As the 2023 NFL season comes to a close, the 2024 NFL Draft is on the horizon. Pro Football Network has you covered with everything from team draft needs to the Top 100 prospects available. Plus, fire up PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator to put yourself in the general manager’s seat and make all the calls!