Tom Sifferman (born September 27, 1943) is an

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

1986 NFL season The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. Defending Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears shared the league's best record with the Giants at 14–2, with the Giants claiming the spot in the NFC by tiebreakers. ...

to the

2008 NFL season The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League (NFL), themed with the slogan "Believe in Now." Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on February 1, ...

. Sifferman is notable for being the only official in NFL history assigned to three consecutive

Super Bowls 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 ...

, which include

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

in 2003,

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2003 Carolina Panthers season, Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2003 New England Patriots season, New E ...

in 2004, and

Super Bowl XXXIX Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NF ...

in 2005. He served as a field judge and wore uniform number 118. Sifferman is now a Replay Official, a duty he performed at

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confe ...

Career

Sifferman is a native of

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

and is a 1961 graduate of

Seattle Preparatory School Seattle Preparatory School, popularly known as Seattle Prep, is a private, Jesuit high school located on Capitol Hill in Seattle, Washington, United States. After it was founded in 1891, Seattle Prep merged with Immaculate Conception Parish Sch ...

. He is a retired manufacturer representative for a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

and

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

products company. Sifferman resides in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...

. Sifferman was the field judge during a

1988 NFL season The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Phoenix, Arizona, area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division. The playof ...

game on December 31 between the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

played under heavy

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

. This game would become known in NFL lore as the " Fog Bowl". During the

2006 NFL season The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006. The season began with the reigning Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeati ...

, Sifferman was a field judge on the officiating crew headed by referee

Ed Hochuli Edward G. Hochuli ( ; born December 25, 1950) is an American retired attorney and former American football official. He served as an attorney at Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C. from 1983 to 2021, and was an official in the National Football ...

. Sifferman goes by the nickname "Jungle Boy" as replay official, a nickname discovered when Hochuli accidentally turned on his microphone to the crowd during a game. He received the nickname for touring a jungle on a trip to Hawaii.

References

1940s births Living people NFL officials Sportspeople from Seattle Sportspeople from Bend, Oregon Year of birth missing (living people) {{Amfootbio-stub