For as exciting as the on-field matchup is between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, it's simply a fact of life in the NFL in 2026 that as much — if not more — attention will be paid to the officiating crew. There's seemingly been a different controversy every week, from the regular season through the playoffs, with fans loving nothing more than poring over slow-motion video to decide whether a given outcome is or is not rigged.
So, with everything on the line in Santa Clara on Sunday, we have to ask: Just who will be in charge of making the calls? We've got the answer for you, along with the crew's history with both the Seahawks and Patriots.
Who are the Super Bowl 60 referees?
The Super Bowl officiating crew on Sunday in Santa Clara will be headed by referee Shawn Smith. Let's take a full look at both Smith and the all of the refereeing assignments for Seahawks-Patriots.
Official | Super Bowl 60 assignment |
|---|---|
Shawn Smith | Referee |
Roy Ellison | Umpire |
Dana McKenzie | Down Judge |
Eugene Hall | Side Judge |
Julian Mapp | Line Judge |
Jason Ledet | Field Judge |
Greg Steed | Back Judge |
Andrew Lambert | Replay Official |
Unlike the regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs, the NFL doesn't bring a referee's usual crew with them to the Super Bowl. Rather, it's something of an All-Star game, with the best performers at each role coming together to form a whole new team.
As for Smith himself, he's hardly new at this: This is his 11th season as an NFL official, and his eighth as a referee (he was promoted when Terry Macaulay left to take a broadcasting job with NBC's Sunday Night Football). This will also be his 11th playoff game overall. The most recent? New England's romp over the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round back in January.
Seahawks record, history in games officiated by Shawn Smith
Smith hasn't officiated a Seahawks game yet in 2025. He's no stranger to Seattle, though, having handled at least one Seahawks game every year dating back to 2018 (10 in all). Seattle's total record in those games is 6-4, one of which came in the Wild Card victory over the Eagles back in 2018.
Patriots record, history in games officiated by Shawn Smith
Smith is a bit more familiar with the Patriots, particularly recently. His crew called two games in New England this season: a regular-season win over the Giants in Week 13 in addition to the Divisional win over Houston. Smith has handled nine Pats games in all since 2018, with New England's record coming out to 5-4 in those games.
Shawn Smith referee trends this season before Super Bowl 60
It's tough to get a read on how Smith getting this assignment might affect the flow or outcome of the game on Sunday. His crew averaged 13.19 total flags per game this season, which ranked 11th out of 17 crews — slightly below average, but not significantly so. They did rank third and fourth, respectively, in defensive holding and defensive pass interference, which could put physical corners like Christian Gonzalez and Devon Witherspoon on ntoice.
And no crew has called more unnecessary roughness penalties than Smith’s since the start of the 2022 NFL season; if this game gets chippy (hardly out of the realm of possibility considering the players and personalities involved), expect to see flags early and often.
Has Shawn Smith ever refereed the Super Bowl before?
This will be Smith's first on-field assignment at the Super Bowl, although he did previously serve as the alternate referee for for Super Bowls 45 and 48. He's called 11 playoff games in all: five in the Wild Card round, three in the Divisional round and two in the Championship round (most recently the AFC title game between the Chiefs and Ravens in 2024).
While he's yet to experience the Super Bowl stage, he's handled plenty of notable games in the past. His crew was in charge of the Steelers-Ravens play-in game in Week 18 this season, and he was also the referee for the Jaguars' remarkable Wild Card comeback against the Chargers in 2023.
What does Shawn Smith do when he's not the Super Bowl referee?
In case you were unaware, most NFL officials and referees are not doing this on a full-time basis. Just about all of them have day jobs, and in the case of Super Bowl LX referee Shawn Smith, he reportedly spends Monday-Friday as a manager at a health insurance firm.