Shawn Smith is a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL)

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

. He wears uniform number 14. He entered the league in the season as an umpire, and was promoted to referee for the season, following the retirements of

Terry McAulay Terry McAulay (born December 24, 1959) is a former American football official who worked in the National Football League (NFL) for the 1998 through 2017 seasons. He was the referee for seven conference championship games and three Super Bowls ( ...

and

Gene Steratore Eugene Joseph Steratore (; born February 8, 1963) is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 2003 until his retirement from the NFL in June 2018. He also worked as a National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

. Smith becomes only the sixth African American referee in NFL history, following

Johnny Grier Johnny Grier (April 16, 1947 – March 8, 2022) was an American football official for 23 years in the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 2004. He began in the NFL as a field judge before becoming the first African-American referee in th ...

, Mike Carey,

Jerome Boger Jerome Leonard Boger ( ; born July 1, 1955) is an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) since the 2004 NFL season. He has worn uniform number 23 since 2006; before that, he wore uniform number 109. He started in the le ...

, Don Carey and Ronald Torbert. In 2022, he was listed as head referee. Outside of his NFL duties, Smith works as an internal auditor in

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its ...

2023 crew

* R: Shawn Smith * U: Bryan Neale * DJ: Jay Bilbo * LJ: Jeff Seeman * FJ: Dyrol Prioleau * SJ: Clay Reynard * BJ: Dino Paganelli * RO: Mike Wimmer * RA: Sebrina Brunson

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Shawn Living people National Football League officials African-American referees and umpires Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people