Two more officials are leaving the NFL, brining the offseason retirement/departures to 12. Mark Schultz of Football Zebras reports that field judge Mike Weatherford and line judge Mike Dolce no longer are with the league.
Weatherford and Dolce apparently are not leaving willingly, per Schultz, and appealed their departures. Two officials successfully appealed their departures in 2020.
Weatherford has spent 21 years in the NFL, working as a field judge and as a side judge. He worked as a swing official last season.
His last on-field assignment was in the 2020 wild-card round, and he worked 11 playoff games in his career, including Super Bowl XLV.
Weatherford, from the Chickasaw tribe in Oklahoma, was one of two Native Americans on the officiating staff. Jerod Phillips is the other.
Dolce worked in the NFL only three seasons, most recently on Shawn Smith’s crew. He worked his first playoff game last season, getting an assignment for the Chargers-Jaguars game.
The NFL has not had as many officials leave in a single offseason since 2013 when 14 left. Ten officials departed last year.
