Eighth- year o∞ cial Blakeman will be head referee for game

The NFL chose eighthyear official Clete Blakeman as the head referee for Super Bowl 50. Blakeman will lead a seven- man crew of highly graded officials.

Since 2010, when Blakeman became a referee, the Broncos have a 5- 0 record in games when he was the head man. The Carolina Panthers have been 2- 2 during that span.

Blakeman has officiated five career playoff games. He has worked only one this year, Green Bay- Arizona, which had a botched overtime coin toss. The coin didn’t flip on Blakeman’s toss, so he flipped it a second time.

Overall, Blakeman’s crews have called an average of 12.2 penalties for 103.6 yards per game. In 2015, it averaged 14 penalties for 117 yards.

Officials for the Super Bowl have to be ranked among the top of the batch as determined by vice president of officiating Dean Blandino.

Umpire Jeff Rice ( 21 years of experience), head linesman Wayne Mackie ( nine years), line judge Rusty Baynes ( six years), field judge Boris Cheek ( 20 years), side judge Scott Edwards ( 17 years) and back judge Keith Ferguson ( 16 years) fill out Blakeman’s crew.