Tag: Ron Torbert

Michigan State alum to headline Super Bowl officiating crew

A Spartan will be headlining the Super Bowl’s officiating crew

Michigan State is set to have a confirmed presence in the 2025 Super Bowl, an announcement on Tuesday confirmed. Ron Torbert will be the referee for Super Bowl LIX this year.

Torbert, a Michigan State alum, has been an official in the NFL since 2010. This will be his second Super Bowl as the referee, after having the role during Super Bowl LVI.

While the Spartans only have a few players left in the NFL playoffs, there will be a Spartan at football’s biggest game.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on Twitter @Cory_Linsner

Ron Torbert to head Super Bowl LIX officiating crew

Who is officiating Super Bowl LIX?

The teams remain to be determined. However, the NFL has already decided  what officials will work Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans next month.

The referee will be Ron Torbert.

The rest of the Super Bowl LIX officiating crew:

Lions vs Commanders will feature officiating crew Detroit hasn’t seen in 2024

The Lions vs Commanders game in the NFC Divisional Round will feature an officiating crew Detroit hasn’t seen in 2024, headed by referree Ron Torbert

The NFL assigned the officiating crews for the divisional round of the playoffs, which includes the Detroit Lions hosting the Washington Commanders on Saturday, January 18th. The Lions will work with a crew that they have not seen in the 2024 season.

Referee Ron Torbert and his crew earned the assignment. His crew has consistently been one of the most flag-happy. Torbert’s crew threw 237 flags in 16 games, topped only by Clete Blakeman’s crew. That includes a Week 8 game between Seattle and Buffalo that featured an astronomical 24 flags. Torbert officiated one Washington game this year, their Week 13 blowout win over the Tennessee Titans. In that game, Torbert’s crew assessed 19 penalties.

His crew is noted for aggressively calling offensive holding and defensive pass interference. The latter infraction could be a big one in Saturday’s game. Detroit (18 times) and Washington (19) were the two most-penalized teams for defensive pass interference in the regular season.

Referee Ron Torbert assigned to Week 9 Saints-Panthers game

Referee Ron Torbert and his crew will be responsible for officiating the Week 9 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte:

Referee Ron Torbert and his crew will be responsible for the officiating in the Week 9 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.

This is going to be quite an interesting one, considering that over eight games, he and his crew have thrown a total of 128 flags for 993 yards. There were 30 of those that were dismissed. 68 of the flags were thrown on the home team and 60 of them were against the visiting team.

Torbert’s team averages 16 penalties per game for an average of 124 yards per game.

The last time the Saints had Torbert as a referee, they came out on top with a final score of 24-17 over the Chicago Bears. Only one penalty was called on the Saints for a mere total of five yards. The Bears were not as lucky, flagged eight times for a total of 71 yards.

The Panthers last had Torbert throwing the flags in the game on Nov. 26 of 2023 when Carolina fell 17-10 to the Titans. Four penalties were thrown on the Panthers for 35 yards. Eight penalties were thrown on the Titans for 53 yards.

In total, the Saints are 8-3 in games with Torbert as the head referee. The Panthers are 8-5. It will be interesting to see how things play out in this one as the Saints and the Panthers prepare to kick off at Noon CT/1 p.m. ET in Bank of America Stadium.

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Dennis Allen on the benefit of having referees at training camp practice

The Saints welcomed referee Ron Torbert and his crew to training camp. They’ll be helping players learn what they can (and can’t) get away with:

The New Orleans Saints had officials at Friday’s practice for the first time since training camp began. NFL teams often bring referees to practice to clean up any bad habits and enforce new rules changes that could lead to penalties in game action. A week before the first preseason game, New Orleans welcomed veteran referee Ron Torbert and his crew to Irvine.

It’s easy for a defensive back to cross the line from playing physically to being too aggressive when there’s no true consequence, for example. The referees are used as a reminder of the impact of crossing that line.

Dennis Allen touched on the benefits of their presence, though as far as his players are concerned, “I don’t know if the full impact takes place until they start seeing the yellow hankies on the field.”

Seeing a flag is a consequence of bad habits, and then “they start to realize how that’s hurting the football team.” The lesson gets further emphasized in the preseason when field position comes into play.

The Saints were tied for the 13th-fewest penalties in 2023, having drawn 96 fouls in 17 games. That’s an average of 5.6 penalty markers each week.

Torbert’s crew will return to practice through the weekend so the Saints can, as Allen put it, “take full advantage of utilizing that to get better in that way.”

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Twitter reacts as Ron Torbert named referee for Cowboys-Packers wild-card game

NFL fans react to Ron Torbert being named referee for Cowboys-Packers, along with some historic rants on his prior games. | From @ArmyChiefW3

The Dallas Cowboys are quite familiar with the ways of the flag. The team finished the regular season as the second-most penalized team in the league, tying the Cleveland Browns with 115 assessed. Only the Jets, with 124 penalties, had more. But the volume of laundry thrown their way isn’t the only gripe.

Superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons has inexplicably gone 11 full games without a holding penalty even though it appears he gets held the majority of the contest. Parsons has even gone as far as apologizing to the refs on his podcast in hopes of forcing opposing teams to play him fairly. So when it comes to referee assignments for their playoff run, a keen eye is on alert.

Ron Torbert has been assigned to this week’s Cowboys game against the Packers which elicited a few strong reactions. Torbert and his crew have penalized home teams more often than the visitors, and like most referees in the NFL these days, he’s had his fair share of tumultuous contests. Fans from both teams had interesting things to say about the assignment.

Here are some of the best reactions so far, along with some tweets from disgruntled fans of prior contests.

Worst of the Week: Clete Blakeman, Jamal Adams, Ron Rivera, Broncos in the red zone

Jamal Adams, Ron Rivera, Broncos in the red zone, Joe Flacco’s last two plays, and more bad officiating! It’s the NFL’s Worst of the Week!

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 13 of the 2023 NFL season.

4-Down Territory: Best/worst coaches, Ohio teams without QBs, Worst of the Week

Next coach fired? Coach of the Year so far? Browns and Bengals without QBs? Worst of the Week? Doug Farrar and Kyle Madson get into it in “4-Down Territory.”

With 11 weeks of actual football in the books for the 2023 NFL season, it’s time for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to come to the table with their own unique brand of analysis in “4-Down Territory.”

This week, the guys have some serious questions to answer:

  1. Will there be another head coach fired in-season this year?
  2. Who’s the Coach of the Year so far?
  3. Can the Browns or Bengals make it to the postseason without their franchise quarterbacks?
  4. And, what was our Worst of the Week?

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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You can listen and subscribe to the “4-Down Territory” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Ron Torbert’s officiating crew misses clear helmet hit from Broncos’ Kareem Jackson

Broncos safety Kareem Jackson is a repeat offender when it comes to leading with his helmet. But Ron Torbert’s crew missed a clear example.

If there’s one guy in the NFL whose tendency to launch himself at opposing  players should be easily caught by referees, it’s Demver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson. This season, Jackson had been ejected from two different games, fined four different times, and suspended for two games due to his unnecessary roughness penalties.

Jackson was back for Sunday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, and per our friends at Broncos Wire, he vowed to change his style of play.

“I probably have to adjust it a little bit,” Jackson said in a recent interview with KMGH-TV’s Troy Renck. “As far as the tackling — lowering the target — I’ll try my best to do that.

“Definitely don’t want to be in this situation again. As far as going forward, I’m sure I’ll be in situations — these bang-bang plays — so for me, it’s all about staying on the field and not having to go through this again.”

Well, on the Vikings’ third play from scrimmage, tight end T.J. Hockenson took a direct snap and handed the ball to quarterback Josh Dobbs in what became a Dobbs fumble. How did that happen? Well, Jackson launched himself, leading with his helmet.

Not only was this targeting, but Jackson appeared to go right for Dobbs’ throwing shoulder. Dobbs was okay, but this could have been a lot worse.

NBC rules expert and former NFL referee Terry McAulay seemed to see it pretty clearly.

Why Ron Torbert’s officiating crew didn’t call a penalty here is beyond us, except that it’s Reason No. 349.108 that officiating in the NFL has become inexcusably bad this season.

The Broncos were allowed to keep the ball, and kicked a field goal on their subsequent drive.

Veteran referee Ron Torbert assigned to Week 9 Saints-Bears game

Veteran referee Ron Torbert assigned to Week 9 Saints-Bears game

We’re moving on to Week 9, where referee Ron Torbert and his crew have been assigned to work Sunday’s game between the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears. Torbert is one of the most experienced referees in the league, having been promoted to that role back in 2014. The Saints are 7-3 in games with him on the field as referee, while the Bears are 2-6.

But the Saints played too much sloppy football this year to take past performance for granted. The Saints are tied for the third-most penalties in the league (54) and they’ve given up 513 penalty yards, more than anyone else, primarily on defensive pass interference fouls (12 infractions for 219 yards, which leads the NFL) on starting cornerbacks Paulson Adebo (4 DPI’s) and Marshon Lattimore (3).

That could be a problem on Sunday. Torbert’s crew has thrown eight flags for DPI, which is in line with league average, but six of them have gone against home teams, which is the second-most. Adebo and Lattimore must watch their hands and take care to not give up free yards.

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