First all-Black NFL officiating crew to work Monday Night Football game

[underpants]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30335214/first-all-black-nfl-officiating-crew-work-monday-night-football-game

The NFL has assembled an all-Black officiating crew for the first time to work Monday night's game between the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, citing the opportunity to recognize the league's history and recent practices in diversifying its officiating department.

The crew will be led by referee Jerome Boger and includes four members of his 2020 crew. Monday night's group will include umpire Barry Anderson, down judge Julian Mapp, line judge Carl Johnson, side judge Dale Shaw, field judge Anthony Jeffries and back judge Greg Steed.

The NFL typically assembles its 17 officiating crews prior to the season and works to keep them together for each game to promote cohesion and communication. It organized the crews by home geography this season because of the coronavirus pandemic, giving officials the option to drive rather than fly to games if desired.

Four of the NFL's 17 referee/crew chiefs are Black -- Boger, Ron Torbert, Adrian Hill and Shawn Smith -- a higher percentage than for NFL coaches or general managers. Two members of its three-man leadership team, senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron and senior vice president of officiating administration Perry Fewell, are minorities. The NFL hired Burl Toler, the first Black official in any major sports league, in 1965.

[lapfog_1]

1. This is sad for two reasons

1. Why did this take so long?

2. Why is it remarkable? It should have happened long ago and be routine and as a result of standard scheduling of random Referees without regard to race.

If someone had put this on a trivia quiz... i.e in which decade was there an all black referee crew for an NFL game? I would have answered "the 1980s" and been wrong by 30 to 40 years.