NFL referee Shawn Smith. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Four key facts every fan should know about Super Bowl LX referee Shawn Smith

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Jan 20, 2026 8:36 PM ET

We do not yet know who is going to be playing in Super Bowl LX, but we do know who is going to be officiating it. The NFL announced on Tuesday that Shawn Smith is going to be the head official for the game at Levi's Stadium.

Here are some key things to know about him and the type of game he typically calls.

Shawn Smith has been an NFL referee since 2018

Smith initially started his career in the NFL as an umpire during the 2015 season, a role he held for three years. Starting with the 2018 season, he was promoted to referee and has been working in that position ever since.

While this is his first Super Bowl assignment, he has officiated at least one playoff game in seven of his eight seasons as a referee. The only year he did not get a playoff game assignment was the 2018 season, his first as a referee.

Smith officiated this year's AFC divisional game between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans.

The other members of his Super Bowl crew

While referees have the same crew work with them throughout the regular season, playoff games and the Super Bowl are more of an "All-Star" cast that rewards officials for strong performances throughout the season.

Here is who Smith will have working with him in the Super Bowl.

Four members of the crew have prior Super Bowl experience.

NFL’s Super Bowl LX officiating crew: pic.twitter.com/RX8sA0Xen9
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 20, 2026

Shawn Smith has been a "let them play" referee this season

While this could certainly change with different officials working with him, Smith's crew did not overly involve itself in many games in the form of throwing flags.

Games involving Smith had an average of just 13.94 flags thrown per game. That ranked 12th out of the 17 referee crews in the NFL.

Shawn Smith could be a beneficial referee for offenses

Smith's presence in the game, as well as his "let them play" tendencies, could be a positive for whatever offenses are in the game.

Smith's games featured just 1.71 offensive holding penalties per game, the lowest total of any NFL referee crew this season. That could mean extra freedom for offensive linemen to hold on their blocks in the running game and some additional pass protection for quarterbacks.

Along with that, the one area where Smith's crews did have a tendency to throw flags higher than the league average was defensive pass interference, averaging 1.35 calls per game for 21.59 yards.

He was also slightly above the league average with illegal contact penalties at 0.41 per game.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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