Tra Blake
Jerome "Tra" Blake | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Blake in 2022 | |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Central Florida |
| Occupation | NFL official (2020–present) |
Jerome "Tra" Blake is an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) since the 2020 NFL season, wearing uniform number 33 until 2021; he now wears uniform number 3.[1][2]
Career[edit]
Blake officiated in Conference USA and the Atlantic Coast Conference, where he worked at deep wing and referee positions.[3] Blake was also a referee for the Alliance of American Football in 2019 and the XFL in 2020.[4][5]
Blake was hired by the NFL in 2020 as a field judge. He was re-assigned to the umpire position in 2021, and was promoted to referee for the start of the 2022 NFL season following the retirement of Tony Corrente.[3] He became the eighth African-American NFL official to be promoted to the referee position in their career.
Blake was the referee during the biggest come-from-behind victory in NFL history when the Vikings rallied to win after falling behind by 33 points. The game was not without controversy for Blake as two apparent fumble recoveries for defensive touchdowns by Chandon Sullivan were nullified due to the plays being blown dead by Blake's crew.
2023 Crew[6][edit]
- R: Tra Blake
- U: Tony Michalek
- DJ: Patrick Turner
- LJ: Daniel Gallagher
- FJ: Tom Hill
- SJ: Don Willard
- BJ: Todd Prukop
- RO: Andrew Lambert
- RA: Larry Hanson
Personal life[edit]
Blake resides in Clermont, Florida. Outside of the NFL, Blake is a quality assurance director for an Orlando-based pharmaceutical software company.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ "Tra Blake NFL Official Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
- ^ "A numbers game: 2 officials change uniform numbers". Football Zebras. August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Umpire Tra Blake promote to referee position". Football Zebras. March 24, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ "Officiating crews for the 2019 AAF season". Football Zebras. February 7, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ "Officiating crews for the 2020 XFL season". Football Zebras. January 28, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ Austro, Ben (June 27, 2023). "Officiating crews for the 2023 season". Football Zebras. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
External links[edit]
Media related to Tra Blake at Wikimedia Commons
