A day after a report that Walt Anderson was stepping down as the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating comes news that the NFL has hired five new officials, including Anderson’s son.
The league has hired Derek Anderson, Jeff Hutcheon, Brian Perry and Robert Richeson as line of scrimmage officials and Karina Tovar was added as a downfield official.
The NFL tried to hire Derek Anderson, a Big 12 referee, as an on-field official last year, but Football Zebras reports that the league’s human resources office disallowed the hire because he would be reporting to his father.
Walt Anderson’s departure cleared the way for Derek Anderson to move up in the ranks for 2024.
“Our entire family is very proud of Derek’s outstanding career as a college football official,” Walt Anderson said in a statement issued by the league. “We are excited to see him have the opportunity to contribute as an official at the NFL level.”
Walt Anderson announced that he will transition to a new role as an NFL Rules Analyst & Club Communications Liaison.
“I will focus on communicating with the clubs during the week and with our broadcast partners on gamedays,” Walt Anderson said. “While I will no longer be making officiating decisions, together with a variety of stakeholders I will continue to look for new and better ways to promote excellence in officiating performance. I welcome this challenge and look forward to the opportunity to support the men and women who do such a tremendous job officiating our game at every level.”
