Garth DeFelice is a former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL)

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

who served from the

1998 NFL season The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The season culminated with Super Bowl XXXIII, with the Denver Broncos defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34–19 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. The Broncos ha ...

until 2013. His uniform number was 53 (now worn by Sarah Thomas, the league's first-ever female official, and previously worn by Bill Reynolds and Frank Kirkland), and served in crews headed by

Clete Blakeman Cletus W. Blakeman (born June 23, 1964) is an American professional football official in the National Football League (NFL). His uniform number is 34. He played college football at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Outside of his work as an ...

from 2010–2013. He has also worked under Mike Carey and

Bill Leavy Bill Leavy (pronounced LEE-vee; February 13, 1947 – March 28, 2023) was an American football official who officiated in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1995 through 2014 seasons, wore uniform number 127, and was also a retired S ...

, under whom he officiated

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

. On May 4, 2014, it was announced that DeFelice would not return to the field for the 2014 season as he will become one of the regional supervisors for the officiating office.

Controversy

In 2010, DeFelice was involved in a controversy in a game between the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

and the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. After a play, 49ers defensive lineman Justin Smith and Chargers

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

Kris Wilson were fighting. When DeFelice went in an attempt to break it up, Smith pushed DeFelice out of the way and was ejected per NFL rules regarding contact with an official.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeFelice, Garth Year of birth missing (living people) Living people NFL officials