[Bob M.]

REPLY: It looks like the NFL is pretty much rewriting its policies on the fly. Or maybe they were rewritten for this season and we weren't privy to them. In the past, the only officials who worked multiple playoff games were those who were scheduled to work the Super Bowl. And they typically came out of the Divisional playoff round. Last year, Hochuli's crew came out of the Wild Card Round. And this season, all officials who worked the Conference Championships last weekend had already worked another playoff game--either the wild cards or the divisional rounds. That's new! And we can assume that the SB officials have also worked before in the last few weeks.

In the past, rookies were not allowed to work the playoffs at all. Second year guys were permitted. In order to work the Super Bowl, officials needed to be in the league for five years with the further stipulation that the Super Bowl referee needed to have five years at that position. Many of these policies are/were legacies from the days of mixed crews for the playoffs. Now that they've gone to the crew concept, the policies are probably being revisited and updated.