NFL Side Judge Don Willard Will Referee Two Games in One Day After FAA Ground Stop

One NFL official will work two games on Sunday. Don Willard, who normally serves as a side judge, will be the referee when the Miami Dolphins play the Indianapolis Colts at 1 p.m. ET in Indianapolis, then make the drive to Cincinnati to referee the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. ET.

The trip between the two stadiums is approximately 110 miles, ESPN reported (opens in a new tab). The NFL adjusted its officiating assignments to avoid more travel problems after Friday's nationwide FAA ground stop, moving officials to games they can reach by car.

Three backup referees step in

Willard is one of three officials moving into the referee's spot this weekend. Barry Anderson and Duane Heydt, who normally work as umpires, will also serve as referees on Sunday, according to ESPN and Yahoo Sports. Heydt will referee the Carolina Panthers at the New Orleans Saints, and Anderson will referee the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Tennessee Titans.

The league has a plan for exactly this. "Each of the league's 17 officiating crews have a backup referee identified, and that individual trains throughout the year to work at the referee position should the need arise," the NFL said, according to ESPN.

How the day works

The schedule gives Willard a cushion. Dolphins-Colts kicks off at 1 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium, and Steelers-Bengals does not start until 8:20 p.m. ET at Paycor Stadium, so even a long afternoon game leaves time for the drive down Interstate 74 before the prime time kickoff. The night game airs nationally on NBC and streams on Peacock.

The referee leads the crew on the field, wears the white hat, announces penalties to the stadium and the television audience and has final say on rulings during the game. For Willard, Sunday means doing that job twice in about seven and a half hours.

Why the ground stop reached the NFL

The FAA halted departing flights across the country Friday afternoon after what it described as a temporary telecommunications outage, and reopened the airspace at 8:15 p.m. ET. The stop scrambled travel for college football teams heading to Saturday games, as Undrafted covered in its live updates on the ground stop. NFL officials typically travel to their assignments ahead of game day, which is why the league moved to keep Sunday's crews within driving distance.

Sources: ESPN, Yahoo Sports, NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk, Cincinnati Bengals.

Photo: Matt Barton/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). File photo of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis during a Colts game, Nov. 26, 2017.