Jinx
The Super Bowl should be safe from any tomfoolery thanks to this important referee selection
Over the last two decades (and perhaps going back even further), generally speaking, the Super Bowl has been free of any truly controversial referee moments. Well, except for 2005 (sorry, Seahawks fans).
Of course, that's exactly how it should be, and exactly how the NFL wants it. The league selects the highest-graded referee crew each season for the Super Bowl assignment, which is why for the most part the big game is usually decided by the players on the field, not the zebras. See: Eli Manning, 2007, in the grasp, whistle swallowed, helmet catch, etc.
This year's Super Bowl will be no different, with the NFL announcing that Ron Torbert and his crew will be assigned to the big one. This should be music to the ears of football fans who hate incessant flags, which is literally everyone who watches football:
As many have pointed out already, Torbert and his crew called the third-least amount of penalties in the NFL this season (only Tony Corrente and Bill Vinovich called less). You love to hear that, but, even more importantly, Torbert is on top of his game when the flags do fly, as evidenced from this video of Torbert perfectly recalling 19 different penalties in a video clip from last season that recently resurfaced:
We rag on officials a lot (often for good reason), but we don't nearly praise the good ones enough. It's not an easy job, so the guys who do it well deserve some love. Torbert is one of them. Now, please Ron, don't make us eat these words two Sundays from now.