Rookie referee Tra Blake has been assigned to officiate the Kansas City Chiefs preseason opener against the Chicago Bears according to Football Zebras.
Blake enters his third season as an official in 2022. He was promoted from umpire to referee in order to replace the recently-retired Tony Corrente. He’s the first official to be promoted to a referee role since Land Clark was promoted to the referee role back in 2020.
As an umpire in 2021, Blake was part of Carl Cheffers’ crew. He officiated the Chiefs’ preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, the Week 5 loss to the Buffalo Bills and the Week 13 win over the Denver Broncos.
Congratulations to Tra Blake on being named referee!
Tra joined us from the ACC in 2020, starting his @NFL career as a field judge before moving to the umpire position in 2021. pic.twitter.com/ewQgqC3DwZ
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) March 24, 2022
Obviously, it’s the preseason. These exhibition games don’t count toward anything and are played in an effort to get players and coaches prepared for the regular season. The same can be said of referees and their crews, who need to get in the swing of things in terms of which penalties must and mustn’t be called. We already know that the NFL intends to crack down on illegal contact penalties in 2022, so we can expect a few flags to fly during preseason Week 1.
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