Black referee to lead Super Bowl
Fred Jeter | 2/3/2022, 6 p.m.
Ronald “Ron” Torbert will referee Super Bowl LVI between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
African-American Ronald “Ron” Torbert will be the lead referee — wearing the white cap — for the Feb. 13 Super Bowl in Inglewood, Calif.
A graduate of Michigan State University and Harvard Law School, he is an attorney by trade and became a part-time NFL official in 2010.
Torbert, who wears striped shirt jersey No. 62, has worked six previous NFL playoff games, most recently the San Francisco 49ers’ win over Green Bay in the NFC Divisional round.
He is one of the NFL’s seven African-American referees.
Super Bowl officials are selected on merit. During the regular season, Torbert’s crew threw just 12.3 penalty flags per game, fourth lowest in league.
In 1980, Burl Toler became the first African-American Super Bowl official.
