Pete Morelli | |
|---|---|
 Morelli in 2006 | |
| Born | 1951or1952(age 72–73) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | NFL official (1997–2018) |
| Spouse | Cindy |
| Children | 2 |
Pete Morelli (born 1951or1952) [1] is a retired American football official who worked in the National Football League (NFL) from 1997 to 2018. He wore uniform number 135. [2]
In 1971, aged 19, Morelli began officiating with his father and two uncles, Joe and Tony Morelli. [3] He started with the California Interscholastic Federation, working high school football games. [3] For his performance, he was assigned playoff and championship games. [3] He later progressed to the college level, officiating in the Big West Conference and Western Athletic Conference. [3] He was selected to work eleven playoff games, including the 1996 Liberty Bowl. [3]
Morelli was hired by the NFL in 1997 as a back judge, then switched to field judge after the league swapped position titles in 1998. Morelli worked Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 as a field judge. [4] He was promoted to referee with the start of the 2003 NFL season following the retirements of Dick Hantak and Bob McElwee.
Morelli's 2018 NFL officiating crew consists of umpire Steve Woods, down judge Steve Stelljes, line judge Jeff Seeman, field judge Anthony Jeffries, side judge Boris Cheek, and back judge Keith Ferguson.
Morelli officiated the AFC divisional playoff game in January 2006 between the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. In the fourth quarter, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu intercepted a Peyton Manning pass and in the process he fumbled the ball, then recovered. [5] Colts head coach Tony Dungy challenged the call, and upon review on instant replay, Morelli overturned the ruling. [5] Following the game, Morelli said, "He was losing it while his other leg was still on the ground. Therefore, he did not complete the catch. And then he lost the ball." [5] A day after the game, the NFL released a statement confirming that Polamalu made the interception, refuting the overturn call of Morelli. [5] Mike Pereira, then-the league's vice president of officiating, said, "[Polamalu] maintained possession long enough to establish a catch. Therefore, the replay review should have upheld the call on the field that it was a catch and fumble." [5]
In November 2007, Morelli was the referee of a game between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. Towards the end of regulation, Browns placekicker Phil Dawson attempted a 51-yard field goal to tie the game and force an overtime period. [6] The ball ricocheted off the left upright, broke the vertical plane of the crossbar, and bounced off the stanchion and back over the crossbar and onto the field. [7] Initially, field judge Jim Saracino and back judge Keith Ferguson signaled the kick was no good. [7] After a five-minute discussion among the officials, [7] Morelli announced over the public address system that he would "take a look at this play". [8] Upon arriving at the instant review booth, Morelli was informed by replay assistant Howard Slavin through headphones that field goals are not reviewable. [8] Ferguson "felt more strongly" that the ball had crossed through the goal posts and based on this, Morelli declared that the field goal was good. [8] [9] As a result of this incident, a rule change was passed during the ensuing offseason, making field goal attempts that bounce off the goal post reviewable under instant replay. [10]
Morelli was the referee of the NFC Championship Game between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints on January 24, 2010. Saints' Bobby McCray made a low blindside hit on Vikings quarterback Brett Favre that appeared to have violated the "Tom Brady Rule" in which defenders can't hit quarterbacks below the knees. [11] Pereira later agreed that it was a missed call and a penalty flag should have been thrown. [12] This, along with two other hits on Favre that did draw penalty flags from Morelli's crew, [13] later became one of the many examples cited in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, in which the Saints were accused of operating a slush fund that paid out bonuses for in-game performance in violation of NFL rules. [14]
Morelli received the Art McNally Award in 2015. [15] Morelli was the referee for a prime-time NFC game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers on October 12, 2017, both 4-1 leading into the match-up and battling for the NFC Conference lead. Morelli and his crew made history, penalizing the Eagles 10 times for 126 yards, while penalizing the Panthers one time for one yard. This was the first time in NFL history that one team had over 120 penalty yards while the other had less than 10. [16]
Morelli's final NFL game as referee was the 2019 Pro Bowl in Orlando, Florida, along with Walt Coleman. They both retired after that game. [1]
Pete Morelli and his wife Cindy have two sons, Matt and Dan. [3] Morelli previously served as president of St. Mary's High School in Stockton, California, where was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2007. [17]
Philip Drury Dawson is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He primarily played for the Cleveland Browns from 1999 to 2012, and has the second-most field goals made for their franchise, passing Hall of Famer Lou Groza in 2010. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns. He also played in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers from 2013 to 2016, and the Arizona Cardinals in 2017 and 2018. He signed a contract in 2019 to retire as a member of the Browns.
Edward G. Hochuli is an American retired attorney and former American football official. He served as an attorney at Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C. from 1983 to 2021, and was an official in the National Football League (NFL) from 1990 to 2017; his uniform number was 85. Before becoming a football official, he played college football for four seasons at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
Armen Terzian (1915–1989) was an American-Armenian American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 1961 to 1981. He was a field judge and wore uniform number 23.
Walt Coleman III is a former American football official who officiated in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1989 season until the end of the 2018 season. He wore uniform number 65. During his final season in 2018, Coleman was the NFL's longest current tenured referee.
Anthony Joseph Corrente is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) who served for 26 years from 1995 until his retirement in 2021. He wore uniform number 99. He was the referee of Super Bowl XLI. He served as the Coordinator of Football Officiating for the Pac-12 Conference from June 2011 until he resigned this position in October 2014.
Bill Vinovich III is an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) who has worked as an NFL referee from 2001 to 2006 and since 2012; he is also a college basketball official.
Eugene Joseph Steratore is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 2003 until his retirement from the NFL in June 2018. He also worked as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball referee from 1997 to 2018. Since the fall of 2018, Steratore has served as a rules analyst for CBS Sports, including the NFL on CBS, SEC on CBS, College Basketball on CBS, and CBS/Turner NCAA March Madness.
The 2003 Green Bay Packers season was the franchise's 85th season overall and their 83rd in the National Football League (NFL).
The 2007 Green Bay Packers season was the franchise's 89th overall and 87th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Packers finished the regular season with a 13–3 record. They received for the first time since 1997 a bye for the first round of the playoffs, won their divisional round playoff game, and lost in the NFC Championship game to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. It was the first time the Packers had lost a home NFC Championship game, and only their third home playoff loss ever. This was the last season for quarterback Brett Favre as a Green Bay Packer, as he initially retired following the season but came out of retirement and was subsequently traded to the New York Jets during the offseason.
The 1998 season was the Green Bay Packers' 78th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 80th overall. The Packers entered the 1998 campaign as the two-time defending NFC champions, losing the Super Bowl the year before. The season began with the team attempting to improve on their 13–3 record from 1997, three-peat as National Football Conference (NFC) champions, and win their second Super Bowl in three years.
The Bears–Packers rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. The two teams have a combined 70 members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, have won a combined 22 NFL championships, and includes five Super Bowl championships. They hold the top two spots for most wins all-time; the Bears had the record from 1921 until 2022, when the Packers took over in a game between the two teams, who were tied at 786 wins going into the game.
The 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 73rd season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League (NFL). It was the 6th season under the leadership of general manager Kevin Colbert and the 14th under head coach Bill Cowher. The Steelers failed to improve upon their 15–1 record from 2004 and in 2005, the Steelers struggled. At one point, they were 7–5 and in danger of missing the playoffs but rose to defeat the Chicago Bears on December 11 and started a four-game win streak to finish the season at 11–5.
The 2009 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 49th in the National Football League (NFL) and their fourth under head coach Brad Childress. The Vikings improved upon their 10–6 record and defended their NFC North title from 2008, their first successful defense of a divisional title since they won six NFC Central titles in a row between 1973 and 1978. They beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Playoff at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, but lost the NFC Championship Game in overtime to the eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, missing out on what would have been their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XI in 1976. This year's NFC Championship Game is also dubbed by many as the "Bountygate Game" that also resulted in several players and coaching staff receiving 12-month suspensions three years later. The Vikings had 10 Pro Bowlers and four All-Pros on their roster, both league-highs for the season.
The National Football League playoffs for the 2009 season began on January 9, 2010. The postseason tournament concluded with the New Orleans Saints defeating the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, 31–17, on February 7, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The 2010 season was the Seattle Seahawks' 35th in the National Football League (NFL), their ninth playing their home games at Qwest Field and their first under head coach Pete Carroll after Jim Mora was fired on January 8, 2010. The team exceeded their win total from 2009 and won the NFC West with a 7–9 record. They became the first team in a full season to finish with a sub-.500 record and make the playoffs, a berth which was by virtue of winning the division. The 2010 Seahawks also became the first sub-.500 team to win a playoff game with their home win against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints remembered as the Beast Quake game, but then had their season ended by the second-seeded Chicago Bears in the divisional round.
The 2018 season was the New Orleans Saints' 52nd in the National Football League (NFL), their 43rd at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and their 12th under head coach Sean Payton.
The 2018 NFC Championship Game was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 20, 2019, to determine the National Football Conference (NFC) champion for the 2018 NFL season. The visiting Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints 26–23 in sudden death overtime to advance to their first Super Bowl since the 2001 season. The outcome, however, was mired in controversy because of unpenalized pass interference committed by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman on Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis near the end of regulation, which would be nicknamed the "NOLA No-Call".
The Double Doink was a game-ending field goal attempt by Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey in the National Football League (NFL)'s 2018 NFC Wild Card game. Parkey's failed 43-yard field goal attempt against the Philadelphia Eagles was partially blocked by Eagles defensive lineman Treyvon Hester, hit the left upright, then bounced off the crossbar, and finally fell back out onto the goal line finishing on the 3-yard line. The sixth-seeded, defending Super Bowl champion Eagles won the game over the third-seeded Bears, 16–15, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, and advanced to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
On January 11, 2015, the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers played an NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The game gained notoriety after a play in which Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant attempted to catch a pass from quarterback Tony Romo in the closing minutes of the 4th quarter. The pass was initially ruled a catch before controversially being overturned after officials determined Bryant did not complete the process of a catch while he was lunging towards the end zone. The Packers would get the ball on the turnover on downs and run out the clock. They won by a score of 26–21 and moved on to the NFC Championship game. In the proceeding years, the National Football League (NFL) changed the rules regarding catching a pass while falling to the ground. The new rules would have given Bryant a completed catch. This game has gone by such names as "Dez Caught It" or the "No-Catch Game".
The Catch II was the winning touchdown reception in a 1998 NFC Wild Card Game played between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers at 3Com Park at Candlestick Point on January 3, 1999, as part of the 1998–99 NFL playoffs following the 1998 NFL season. With 8 seconds left in the game and the 49ers facing 3rd-and-3, San Francisco wide receiver Terrell Owens made a catch in the end zone to complete a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Steve Young, enabling the 49ers to defeat the Packers, 30–27. It came at the end of a 9-play, 76-yard drive engineered by Young. This game and moment mirrors a similar catch in 49ers lore, when quarterback Joe Montana threw to receiver Dwight Clark in the 1981–82 NFL playoffs, and is similarly regarded as one of the most memorable events in National Football League (NFL) history, and a significant moment in Owens' NFL career.
Morelli, 67...