Next week’s Monday Night Football game will make history. For the first time in the NFL, an all-Black crew will officiate the November 23 game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams.
The crew will be led by referee Jerome Boger, who has been officiating for 17 seasons. Other crew members will include umpire Barry Anderson, down judge Julian Mapp, line judge Carl Johnson, side judge Dale Shaw, field judge Anthony Jeffries and back judge Greg Steed, the NFL announced on Tuesday. Anderson, Mapp, Shaw, Jeffries and Boger regularly work together.
Boger, who is the third Black referee in the NFL’s 100-year history and a former quarterback for Morehouse College, said in a statement he is “proud of my heritage and excited about my participation in this historic game.”
“The opportunity to work with a great group of Black officials and exhibit our proficiency in executing our assignment is something I am really looking forward to,” he said.
This week’s #MNF matchup between the @RamsNFL & @Buccaneers will make history – marking the first time an all-Black officiating crew will officiate an @NFL game.
The seven-man crew will be led by referee Jerome Boger, a 17-year veteran NFL official.
🔗: https://t.co/Q39c4bOet0 pic.twitter.com/oEzoWT2Zl2
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) November 17, 2020
Troy Vincent, executive vice president of football operations for the NFL, said in a statement that the crew “is a testament to the countless and immeasurable contributions of Black officials to the game, their exemplary performance, and to the power of inclusion that is the hallmark of this great game.”
In an effort to ease travel concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 NFL season has assembled crews based on geography, CBS Sports reported.
On Tuesday, the NFL announced that 17 additional players have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as 35 other personnel. From August 1 to November 14, a total of 95 players and 175 other personnel were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19.