TIL NFL Referee Gene Steratore...

[VaTerp]

I feel stupid b/c I didnt know this either.

FWIW, I think he is currently the best official in the NFL right now.

[bowlingref]

Some conferences are paying over $3,000 a game.

[Raymond]

And I believe his brother is an NFL official and works NCAA-W basketball.

[tjones1]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

And I believe his brother is an NFL official and works NCAA-W basketball.

You are correct.

[JugglingReferee]

Gene's older brother is Tony, a BJ on Boger's crew. Gene is among the elite Rs in the NFL.

There is currently a changing of the guard going on wrt to the best crews. Hochuli, Carey, Anderson, McAulay, Leavy and those guys are still good officials, but Steratore, Cheffers, Blakeman are the new guys coming up. Sadly, I don't think Riveron or Boger will reach that torus.

Morelli is the frontrunner for the SB, imho. Next is either Steratore or Hochuli.

[tballump]

Originally Posted by bowlingref

Some conferences are paying over $3,000 a game.

Is this a game fee?

How much do they get for airline transportation.
How much do they get for hotel accomodations.
How much do they get for rental car or cab fare?
How much do they get for meal money.

Once again, is that the game fee or does the $3,000 cover everything?

If that is not an all inclusive fee, could you break it down. What is the actual game fee and what are the other fees involved. Inquiring minds want to know.

And here is an article on the NFL pay from the strike in 2001. This was a 6 year contract. Of course they have signed another contract since then.
NFL game officials voted yesterday to accept a new, six-year contract from the league, which will put them back on the field Sunday when play resumes.

They'll get an immediate increase of nearly 50 percent, raising the salary scale to $29,000 for first-year officials and to $90,000 for officials with at least 20 years experience in the league. Referees will receive an additional $10,000 a year.

It was considerably less than the NFL Referees Association was seeking as it sought to make up for what the officials considered underpayment in the past. But the reality is the officials had no leverage and little public support.

The 119 union officials, who had been locked out since the final week of exhibition games, voted by e-mail and telephone, facing what thus amounted to a now-or-maybe-never decision.

NFL negotiators made it clear this would be a "final" offer, and even leaders of the officiating union recognized the likelihood they'd be in for a long siege if they voted down the deal. One said he saw nothing on the horizon that he believed would cause the owners to increase their offer.

"I don't think anybody was completely happy with the contract," said one longtime official who asked not to be identified. "The key thing was that it was presented as a 'final offer.' I think that influenced a lot of guys. I think people wanted to work this year, and there was a great sense that, if we didn't accept this, we wouldn't be working."

Vote totals were not announced, but one source with knowledge of the vote said about two-thirds of the officials were in favor of approval.

In terms of dollar value of the total package, the contract is similar to one the union's 10-man executive committee rejected before the start of the season, without putting it to a vote of all the officials. That deal then was pulled off the table by the NFL, which subsequently reduced its offer.

The preseason offer contained an immediate raise of 60 percent, and some officials contacted by The Chronicle were upset they now had to settle for less. (Benefits in some other areas were increased, however.)

Further, senior officials -- those with at least 20 years in the league -- won't get the full percentage increase. Over six years, their pay scales will increase 96 percent, to a maximum of $120,000 a year. Lower pay scales will increase up to 150 percent over six years.

"The senior officials now are the ones getting screwed in this whole deal," one official said. "I'm just sick about it. The relationships between us and the league will never be the same again."

Salaries for first-year officials will go up $1,000 a year after this year, to $34,000 in 2006. Salaries for 10-year officials, which is about the median in the league, will be $51,325 this season and rise in steps to $63,900 in 2006. Twenty-year officials will go from $90,000 this year to $100,000 in 2002 and will get raises of $5,000 in each of the following four years.

Playoff money would increase proportionately, pensions would be hiked 40 percent to $210 a month per year of service and, for the first time, the NFL would offer matching contributions to 401(k) plans. Fees paid for exhibition games and offseason clinics also will rise.

Read more: NFL officials accept league's 'final' offer / Regular crews will work Sunday's games