Key Takeaways
- Don Willard will referee two NFL games Sunday, November 15: Dolphins-Colts in Indianapolis at 1 P.M. ET and Steelers-Bengals in Cincinnati at 8:20 P.M., with a roughly 110-mile drive between them.
- The NFL reassigned officials to games within driving distance after Friday’s nationwide FAA ground stop disrupted air travel, but every game will keep its scheduled kickoff time.
- Barry Anderson and Duane Heydt will also step in as replacement referees, while the NFL's New York replay center will handle Panthers-Saints without an on-site replay official.
NFL official Don Willard is preparing for an unusually busy Sunday after a nationwide FAA ground stop forced the league to make last-minute changes to its officiating assignments.
According to NBC News, Willard will referee two Week 10 games, beginning with the Miami Dolphins against the Indianapolis Colts before traveling to Cincinnati for the Pittsburgh Steelers' matchup against the Bengals.
The unusual assignment comes after Friday's (November 13) nationwide flight disruption created travel problems for several NFL officials, prompting the league to assign replacements who could drive to their games.
"Due to the ongoing nationwide impact to air travel this weekend, the NFL has adjusted its officiating assignments for Week 10 games, reassigning officials to games within driving distance of their hometowns," the NFL said in a statement Saturday (November 14).
Willard, a ninth-year NFL official who normally works as a side judge on Scott Novak's crew, wasn't scheduled to officiate a game this weekend.
His first assignment on Sunday (November 15) begins at 1 P.M. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. After the Dolphins-Colts game concludes, he'll make the approximately 110-mile drive to Cincinnati for the Steelers-Bengals matchup at 8:20 P.M. ET on Sunday Night Football.
It's unclear whether an NFL official has ever refereed two games on the same day.
The league also announced several other officiating changes. Barry Anderson will replace Alex Moore for the Jacksonville Jaguars-Tennessee Titans matchup, while Duane Heydt will take over for Shawn Smith during the Carolina Panthers-New Orleans Saints game.
Willard replaces Carl Cheffers for Dolphins-Colts and Clete Blakeman for Steelers-Bengals.
Despite the changes, the NFL confirmed that every game will begin at its originally scheduled kickoff time. The Panthers-Saints matchup will also operate without an on-site replay official, with the league's New York replay center handling those responsibilities.
The scheduling shakeup stems from Friday's FAA ground stop, which temporarily halted flights nationwide because of a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control. The disruption lasted more than four hours before the FAA lifted the order at 8:15 p.m. ET.
The disruption extended beyond the NFL, with the SEC moving the Ole Miss-Oklahoma football game to Sunday and several college teams forced to travel by bus.
