This Sunday promises to be busy for a handful of NFL officials.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that referee Don Willard, referee Terry Killens, field judge Jabir Walker and side judge Justin Larrew will all work Sunday’s game between the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis at 1 p.m. ET before heading to Cincinnati to also work the night game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at 8:20 p.m. ET.
They’re doing so because the NFL adjusted officials’ assignments in an effort to “avoid further travel issues,” according to Schefter, after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights nationwide for hours on Friday.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the shutdown was due to “a communications issue affecting all air traffic control centers.”
Although the NFL has had to adjust the referee schedule, it has not faced as many challenges as college football since many teams travel the day before their game on Friday.
ESPN noted that a number of kickoff times were changed due to travel issues. Most notably, the game between Ole Miss and Oklahoma has been moved from Saturday to Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Elsewhere, a number of NBA and NHL teams have faced travel issues.
So much so that the state of Colorado even organized a visit to the airport:
Duffy said during a press conference Friday that college football teams facing difficulties should contact the FAA directly:
According to Google Maps, the driving time from Indianapolis to Cincinnati is approximately one hour and 45 minutes without significant gaming traffic. If the Colts-Dolphins game ends around 4:15 p.m. ET, officials will likely have plenty of time to travel to Cincinnati with some time to warm up before the Bengals and Steelers kickoff.
However, this is a quick turnaround time and could be impacted by traffic.
Schefter reported that the referees’ schedule was changed by “reassigning referees to games within driving distance of their hometowns.”
As for the game itself, it’s extremely important in the AFC North. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are tied for first place in the division at 6-2, and the winner will also be right in the middle of the race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
Gn sports
