Mike Pereira knows the pressure Carl Cheffers and his squad will be under at Super Bowl 57 between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
That’s because he either hired or promoted most of them.
As vice president of the NFL in 2008, Pereira promoted Cheffers from assistant judge to referee. After 14 years with the league, Pereira retired and joined Fox in 2010 as a rules analyst.
Pereira’s move to television paved the way for officers to continue to provide their expertise even after leaving the field. It also increased officers’ scrutiny with each analyzed repeat decision or close call.
Pereira, who will be in the dressing room for his fifth Super Bowl with Fox, knows that a call in the biggest game of the season is the last thing an official wants to be known for.
“I always felt that your performance in the Super Bowl was what made you remembered,” Pereira said. “There’s no doubt that every one of these guys on the field feels the pressure. I think every official likes a challenge.”
Fox went into uncharted waters by hiring Pereira, so much so that neither party knew of his role during the week. The original plan was for Pereira to write a column and create a video rule book online for fans to learn the rules. It was a last-minute decision by then-Fox Sports President David Hill ahead of the inaugural 2010 games to have Pereira in the Los Angeles studio in case there was a game that required rules interpretation.
Thanks to Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson, Pereira made an instant impression.
During the fourth quarter of the Detroit Lions’ game against the Chicago Bears, Johnson appeared to catch the touchdown that would have won the game. Johnson came down with the ball when his back and knee hit the ground in what most considered a touchdown.
However, under the NFL’s then process of completing the catch rules, Johnson lost control of the ball after his hand touched the ground, rendering it incomplete.
“It looked like the winning touchdown pass to everyone except the New York guys and me. I went on the air and described why I thought they were going to leave it as an incomplete passport,” Pereira said. “I think a game defined how that position would work, whether it was Fox or any other network.
“I don’t think anyone at the time necessarily thought it would expand to all other networks, but it went from an internet presence to an on-air presence.”
Pereira’s role has expanded to most weeks in the dressing room with Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen, Fox’s top broadcast crew.
Dean Blandino, who worked at the league office under Pereira and eventually became vice-president of the office, said there was a bit of trepidation when Pereira joined Fox over the unknown.
“I think ultimately it turned positive and allowed someone with that expertise to explain things instead of leaving fans at home wondering what just happened,” said Blandino, who joined Fox in 2017. “They might disagree with the call or the rule, but at least they understand the basic concept.”
John Parry, who has been with ESPN since 2019, said officials’ opinions at the time Pereira first started at Fox were good because they gave viewers insight into the decision-making process.
Opinions about rules analysts have also at times polarized depending on officials’ performance. During the conference championship games, the hashtag #NFLRigged trended on social media as many took it as a bad call.
In the case of Pereira, Parry, CBS’s Gene Steratore and NBC’s Terry McAulay, sometimes the less they’re on the air the better, because it means there’s no officiating controversy.
Both Pereira and Parry said attention to Cheffers and his crew increased due to events involving calls in both conference championship games.
Parry compared it to when he umpired Super Bowl 53. The main theme leading up to this game was the blown pass interference call between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints in the NFC title game.
“That’s all anyone has talked about – how bad the office was, the wrong team went and how can they not fix that? So they come to Atlanta and all eyes are on us. So the pressure to do that was huge,” said Parry, who will be part of ESPN’s Super Bowl broadcast to Australia.
Pereira said Cheffers has called its second Super Bowl in three years, even as others point out what his crew did during the regular season and playoffs.
However, Super Bowl assignments are given to the top officials at each position.
“You already hear things from people like, ‘Well, Carl’s crew posted the most penalties this year.’ “I have an ultimate level of comfort when it comes to how Carl will perform.
“As difficult as it was in the (conference) league games, when you put in a nice solid performance and after that nobody says anything about you on social media or in the newspapers. That calms a lot of nerves.”
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