Clete Blakeman

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Clete Blakeman (* 1964 / 1965 ) is an American American football referee in the National Football League (NFL). He wears the number 34.

college

Blakeman went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln , where he played between 1984 and 1987 for the Nebraska Cornhuskers as a quarterback and holder .

Career

After serving as a referee in high school games for a year, he moved to the NAIA Division II. He then moved to the NCAA , where he also worked with his father for several years. Mostly he was used in games of the Big 12 Conference . Between 2004 and 2006 he then directed games in the NFL Europe . In 2008 he moved to the National Football League , where he began as a field judge. For the 2010 season he was appointed referee. In 2013 he was selected to be the substitute umpire for Super Bowl XLVIII . On January 20, 2015, the NFL announced that Blakeman would be running Super Bowl 50 , which is his first Super Bowl appearance.

Controversy

Decision against a pass interference

Blakeman's crew spearheaded a game between the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers on November 18, 2013 . The Panthers were leading 24:20 with the Patriots standing at the 18-yard line in Carolina with 3 seconds to go. In the last play of the game Patriots quarterback threw Tom Brady pass in the end zone, where he from the safety of the Panthers, Robert Lester , interceptet was. At the same time, however, back judge Terrence Miles threw a penalty flag to linebacker Luke Kuechly for bumping New England's Rob Gronkowski in the back near the end zone, which Miles saw as pass interference . A penalty would have allowed the Patriots one more play from the Panthers 1-yard line. After a meeting with his crew, however, Blakeman announced that there would be no penalty, which resulted in the game being over. This decision was often criticized as wrong.

Deflategate

Blakeman was a substitute referee in the 2014 AFC Championship Game , which became known as the Deflategate Game. He was one of the two officials who took the air pressure during half-time. He has been criticized for checking all of the Patriots 'balls but only four of the Colts' balls, which was deemed unfair.

Misunderstood decision

In week 16 of the 2015 season , he spearheaded the game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets . After that game went into overtime, a coin toss was played, which the Patriots won. You now had the choice of whether to kick the ball first or return it, or in which direction to play. Patriots Matthew Slater said he wanted to kick the ball in a certain direction ( we want to kick off, that way ), so decided on the direction of play. Blakeman only understood that the Patriots wanted to kick the ball and gave the Jets the choice of which direction to play.

Unsuccessful coin toss

On January 16, 2016, Blakeman directed the divisional playoff game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers . After the game went into overtime, he had to toss a coin, but failed to get the coin to rotate, so he repeated the coin toss. However, since the official rules do not stipulate that the coin must rotate, he received occasional criticism for the decision to repeat the coin toss.

Others

In addition to his work as an arbitrator, Blakeman is a practicing attorney in Omaha , Nebraska .

statistics

season position Games (play-offs) Penalties declared Loss of space in yards resulting from penalties
2008 Field Judge 15th 160 1,301
2009 Field Judge 16 (1) 172 1,364
2010 Referee 15th 167 1,342
2011 Referee 17 (1) 227 1.938
2012 Referee 12 131 1,165
2013 Referee 16 (1) 189 1,660
2014 Referee 16 (1) 181 1,613
2015 Referee 16 (2) 242 1,964
2016 Referee 16 228 1.993
total 145 1,697 14,240

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Football Clete. 2015, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Randy Yorc: Blakeman, Saalfeld Still Excelling on the Football Field. Retrieved January 25, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Marjie Ducay: Ex-Husker's season grade lands him the referee's job for the Super Bowl. January 21, 2016, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  4. ↑ David Woods: Report: Clete Blakeman to referee Super Bowl 50 despite coin toss incident. Retrieved January 25, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b Kevin Seifert: Cardinals-Packers coin-flip ref to officiate Super Bowl 50 January 21, 2016, accessed on January 25, 2016 (English).
  6. ↑ a b Alec Nathan: Clete Blakeman Reportedly Named Super Bowl 50 Referee: Latest Details, Reaction. Retrieved January 25, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Darin Gannt: Report: Clete Blakeman to call Super Bowl 50. January 20, 2016, accessed on January 25, 2016 (English).
  8. ↑ Nick Groke: NFL assigns controversial referee Clete Blakeman to Broncos-Chargers playoff game. January 8, 2014, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Scott Davis: A ref involved in Deflategate is working the Super Bowl, and Patriots fans are already losing their minds. January 21, 2016, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Mike Pereira On Felger & Mazz: Officials Should Have Stuck With Call On Field. November 19, 2013, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Scott Davis: A ref involved in Deflategate is working the Super Bowl, and Patriots fans are already losing their minds. January 21, 2016, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Matt Wilhalme: Deflategate official to referee Patriots-Panthers preseason game. August 28, 2015, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Jeanna Thomas: The ref who can't flip a coin is calling the Super Bowl. January 20, 2016, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Mike Florio: NFL says Blakeman handled coin flip non-flip properly. January 17, 2016, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Clete Blakeman. Retrieved January 25, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Blakeman, Clete
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American referee
DATE OF BIRTH 1964 or 1965