Not many jobs in the NFL are more impactful than what Ron Torbert will have next Sunday. As the referee, he is the main responsible for making sure that the Super Bowl LIX is ultimately decided by the players and coaches.

Who is Ron Torbert

Ronald Torbert is a practicing attorney and a long-time member of the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO). He started his officiating journey in 1989 at high school level, going through college, and reaching the NFL in 2010 as a side judge.

Torbert was promoted to referee in 2014. He is one of eight African-American referees in NFL history.

In February 2022, he was the referee in Super Bowl LVI, when the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Inglewood, California. Before that, he had been the alternate referee for Super Bowl LIII, when the New England Patriots beat the Rams 13-3 after the 2018 season.

Super Bowl LIX officiating team

Torbert is not the only member of the officiating crew with Super Bowl experience. Side judge Boris Cheek will officiate his fourth big game, after working in Super Bowl XLII, Super Bowl 50 and Super Bowl LIV. There other officials are all appearing in a Super Bowl for the first time.

• Referee Ron Torbert
• Umpire Mike Morton
• Down judge Max Causey
• Line judge Mark Stewart
• Side judge Boris Cheek
• Field judge Mearl Robinson
• Back judge Jonah Monroe
• Replay official Kevin Brown

How the process works

To be assigned as the referee for the Super Bowl, an official must have at least five years of NFL experience and playoff experience, meeting one of the following criteria: having officiated at least one conference championship game in their career or having participated in the playoffs for at least three seasons in the last five years.

During the NFL season, officiating crews remain mostly the same for games. A few days after each week, they receive grades on their calls and non-calls, and have an opportunity to explain controversial decisions. In the playoffs, the path to the Super Bowl goes through officiating in the divisional round.

This postseason, Ron Torbert was the referee for Washington Commanders at Detroit Lions.

“Based on the NFL’s evaluation, Torbert and the rest of his crew were among the highest-rated officials,” explains Guilherme Cohen, rules analyst for ESPN Brazil. “A referee makes about 35,000 decisions on the field per season, and since he performed well on the majority of them, he earned the honor of wearing the white cap in the Super Bowl.”

Previous Super Bowl

The Rams-Bengals Super Bowl three years ago was mostly clean from an officiating perspective.

“All the officiating controversies in that game involved plays in the deep field, which are not the referee’s responsibility,” Cohen added. “In all his postgame interviews, Torbert spoke about decisions made by his crew, not ones he personally had to make, as they were outside his coverage area. So, he had a clean performance in a game with few penalties, though the ones that were called had an impact.”

Part-time job

Being a referee in the NFL is not a full-time job. As aforementioned, Torbert is also a lawyer. Even though there is significant scrutiny over the topic, Cohen doesn’t think it actually makes a real difference on the field.

“Although referees are not full-time employees, their preparation, the league’s scrutiny, and their involvement during and outside the season are at a level that makes them essentially full-time in practice,” Cohen pointed out. “If they were officially full-time employees, the only real change would be in public perception.”

2024 season

These are the games Ron Torbert officiated during this season:

• Week 1: Packers at Eagles (17 penalties)
• Week 3: Ravens at Cowboys (19 penalties)
• Week 4: Broncos at Jets (18 penalties)
• Week 5: Buccaneers at Falcons (13 penalties)
• Week 6: Texans at Patriots (13 penalties)
• Week 7: Bengals at Browns (13 penalties)
• Week 8: Bills at Seahawks (24 penalties)
• Week 9: Saints at Panthers (16 penalties)
• Week 10: Dolphins at Rams (7 penalties)
• Week 12: Broncos at Raiders (10 penalties)
• Week 13: Titans at Commanders (19 penalties)
• Week 14: Bears at 49ers (9 penalties)
• Week 15: Patriots at Cardinals (8 penalties)
• Week 16: Rams at Jets (13 penalties)
• Week 17: Dolphins at Browns (20 penalties)
• Week 18: Giants at Eagles (7 penalties)
• Divisional Round: Commanders at Lions (9 penalties)

He was the referee in two Eagles games this season, wins over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil and New York Giants. The last time he was the official for a Chiefs game was in January 29, 2023, the AFC Championship Game, when the team beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 before beating exactly the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.

The top penalties Torbert’s crew called in 2024 were offensive holding (49), false start (41), and defensive pass interference (20), which are also the most frequent calls in the entire league.