Jeff Triplette
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Jeff Triplette (born March 12, 1951) is a former
American football official In gridiron football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. During professional and most college football games, seven officials operate on the field. Since 2015, Division I ...
in the
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) from the 1996 season through the 2017 season. He wore uniform number 42.


Personal life

Triplette is a native of
Granite Falls, North Carolina Granite Falls is a town in Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,722 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hickory– Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The name Granite Falls come ...
, and a graduate of
Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...
. He is also a retired Army Reserve colonel. Triplette was awarded the
Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...
for actions in the
Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
while serving in the
North Carolina Army National Guard The North Carolina Army National Guard (NCARNG) is North Carolina's principal Militia, military force. The force is equipped by the federal government and jointly maintained subject to the call of either. The professional head of the North Caroli ...
. In January 2007, Triplette was named president and chief operating officer of FNC, Inc., a provider of collateral management technology to the nation's largest mortgage lenders. Before joining FNC, he was vice president for risk management at
Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company ranked as the 141st largest company in the United States in 2024 – its highest-ever placement on the ...
, a large energy company headquartered in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
. From March 2013 to June 2019, Triplette served as president and CEO of ArbiterSports, creator of athletic event management software designed to assist in assigning officials to athletic events.


Officiating career

Triplette joined the NFL as a field judge in 1996, then switched to back judge in 1998 after the NFL swapped position titles that season, and became a referee in 1999 after four-time
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
referee
Jerry Markbreit Jerry Markbreit (born March 23, 1935) is a former American football referee in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons and became one of the most recognizable referees in the game. Markbreit officiated football games for 33 seasons. ...
announced his retirement. He was the alternate referee of
Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2006 Indianapolis Colts season, Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2006 Chicago Bears season, Chicag ...
, which was held on February 4, 2007, in Miami. On December 19,
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
, Triplette accidentally hit the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
' Orlando Brown in the eye with a
penalty flag The penalty flag (or just "flag"), often called a penalty marker (or just "marker"), is a yellow cloth used in several field sports including American football, Canadian football, and lacrosse by game officials to identify and sometimes mark th ...
weighed with
ball bearings A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
. Video shows that Triplette immediately apologized to Brown, who was then tended to by the medical staff. Brown attempted to rejoin the team on the field a few minutes later, but Triplette prevented him from entering for the next play per NFL rules which stipulate that if a player incurs an injury timeout he must sit out the next play. Brown shoved Triplette to the ground and was ejected. Initially the NFL suspended Brown indefinitely, but lifted the suspension when it was learned that the flag had temporarily blinded him. As a result of the incident, the practice of officials using flags weighted with ball bearings was discontinued in favor of other material. In addition, officials are now only instructed to throw a flag at the spot of the foul if they need to mark it as a possible spot for penalty enforcement; otherwise, they only need to throw it up in the air. On December 8,
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, Triplette's crew initially ruled that a fourth-down run by
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis against the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
was down by contact just short of the goal line. Because it was less than two minutes before halftime, it automatically went to replay. After reviewing the play, Triplette reversed the call and awarded the touchdown to Green-Ellis. His reversal was based on footage of Green-Ellis near the goal line where he was clearly not touched, but he did not look at footage earlier in the play where there was contact. This miscall helped revive discussions around centralizing all replay review functions to the league office, similar to the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
's system. Centralized replay was then approved at the owners' meeting on March 26, 2014, although NFL referees will still make the final decisions instead of the command center. Triplette privately began discussing retirement from the NFL during the
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
season. Triplette's work during his last assignment of the 2017 regular season (the Week 17 game between the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
and
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
) was marred by confusion over players (at one point ejecting a player from the wrong team who was not on the field and another player who did not exist after an on-field fight, eventually correcting his mistake after a ten-minute instant replay review). In the following week's
wild card game The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was instituted in 2012. This became a best ...
between the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
and
Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...
, he was also criticized for prematurely calling the ball dead before the play would have otherwise ended on several plays; one such incident, on a sack that appeared to be a forced fumble had Triplette not blown the whistle, potentially altered the outcome of that game. (Triplette defended his decision by noting that the rules for a sack do not require the quarterback be brought down, only that he be wrapped up and/or that his progress be stopped, which Triplette argued was the case.) In both games, Triplette was criticized for losing control of the game. After the wild card game, reports surfaced that Triplette was planning on retiring, and speculation also emerged that his officiating the playoff game was a farewell gesture from the league. On March 6, 2018, the league confirmed that Triplette would be leaving his position after a 22-year career. As he had notified the league well in advance, they were able to prepare for Alex Kemp to step into Triplette's position.


''Monday Night Football''

Triplette was added to the ESPN ''
Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...
'' broadcast team as a
rules analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...
in June 2018, replacing Gerald Austin. He served for one season in the role before ESPN replaced him with John Parry.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triplette, Jeff Living people ESPN people NFL officials Wake Forest University alumni United States Army personnel of the Gulf War North Carolina National Guard personnel National Guard (United States) colonels NFL announcers People from Granite Falls, North Carolina 1951 births