Ronald Torbert named lead referee for Super Bowl LVI

The Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will battle this Sunday to earn trips to Super Bowl LVI, which will be held at SoFi Stadium on Feb. 13. 

On Tuesday, those teams learned who will serve on the officiating crew for the upcoming championship game. 

The NFL announced that Ron Torbert will be lead referee for Super Bowl LVI. According to Kevin Seifert of ESPN, Torbert originally joined the NFL as a side judge in 2010 and has worked the past eight seasons as a referee at the highest level. He's been a referee for six total playoff games, most recently for San Francisco's win at the Green Bay Packers this past Saturday. 

This will be his first Super Bowl assignment. 

Also on Torbert's crew are umpire Bryan Neale, down judge Derick Bowers, line judge Carl Johnson, field judge Rick Patterson, side judge Keith Washington, back judge Scott Helverson and replay official Roddy Ames. Among Bowers, Johnson, Patterson and Helverson, the group has accumulated a total of seven previous Super Bowl assignments. 

As is always the case, fans hope the identities of the officials are largely anonymous come Feb. 13, as that more often than not makes for a better game for the casual viewer.