How the Refs Will Deal with the Green Bay Cold

[grunewar]

Pereira: Player won't be the only ones battling the cold | FOX Sports on MSN

"Hochuli told me that most of the referees will wear a full body wetsuit as their first layer. Then, they will put on 2 to 4 layers of cold weather compression gear over that -- on the legs and upper body. And on top of that, the uniform. The pants of the uniform are heavy as well. The jerseys are lined with a wind breaker-type material on the outside."

Ever wear everything you own for a game?

[OkieZebra]

So, does the NFL find them wetsuits, or did they just rent one from the local scuba shop?

[Suudy]

Originally Posted by grunewar

Ever wear everything you own for a game?

Never. And while eastern WA can get cold, frequently below freezing and sometimes at or below 0 with the windchill, I've never been so cold I couldn't do my job. In fact, this season I did a playoff game that got down to 10 degrees. However, we do have a few old timers (e.g. 60+ years old) that put 3 or 4 layers on, even for games that are in the low to mid 30's.

Personally, I find it strange to need a wetsuit while out there. Even our guys that bundle up don't need that kind of protection. Besides, isn't an official moving around enough out there to keep warm?

Well, maybe GB is colder than I'm used to. I supposed if it got to -20 with windchill, I might need more warmth. Or perhaps all the officials spend most of their time in SoCal or Florida. ::shrug::

[Ianr]

when it gets really cold around 32F or bellow I usually just dress like a do to go skiing (without the snow pants) with my uniform on top. although if I am ever officiating a game at or bellow zero (unlikely anytime soon since I just finished my rookie season) I must remember the wetsuit technique.

[IAUMP]

Suddy, Eastern WA is not a fair comparison to Green Bay. I live in IA and the Monday, the high temp was -11. The wind chill factor was down to -40. Green Bay was even worse than this. When the temp/wind chill gets that low, there is no amount of running that you can do and stay warm during the dead ball periods and time outs.