Super Bowl referee a UCI alum

Carl Cheffers, named last week as the referee in Super Bowl LI, is a UC Irvine graduate.

Cheffers is in his 17th season, entered the league as a side judge. He has worked the last nine seasons as a referee and has worked 10 postseason games.

His previous playoff assignments include two conference championship games, four divisional games and four wild card contests. He was the alternate referee for Super Bowl XLIX and Super Bowl XLII.

He was the referee in the divisional-round game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers, won by the Steelers, 18-16. There was a controversial holding penalty that nullified a would-be two-point conversion by the Chiefs that would have tied the score at 18 with 2:43 remaining.

Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce was critical of Cheffers, who wears No. 51, after the game.

“Referee No. 51 shouldn’t even be able to wear a zebra jersey ever again,” Kelce said. “He shouldn’t even be able to work at [expletive] Foot Locker.”

The NFL, which selects Super Bowl officials based on performance grades during the regular season, obviously disagreed.

— From staff reports