Eugene Joseph Steratore (/ˈstɛrəˌtɔːr/; born February 8, 1963)^[1] is a formerAmerican football official in theNational Football League (NFL) from 2003 until his retirement from the NFL in June 2018.^[2] He also worked as aNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Division I men'sbasketball referee from 1997 to 2018.^[3] Since the fall of 2018, Steratore has served as a rules analyst forCBS Sports, including theNFL,college football,college basketball, andMarch Madness.^[4]

Steratore entered the league as a field judge and was promoted to referee at the start of the2006 season, one of two new referees (Jerome Boger being the other) for that season, following the retirements ofBernie Kukar andTom White. He wore uniform number 114. Steratore was chosen to be the alternate referee ofSuper Bowl XLIV, which was held in Miami on February 7, 2010, and was chosen to be the referee forSuper Bowl LII, played on February 4, 2018, which would be his last game officiating.

Steratore was one of two active NFL referees (Bill Vinovich being the other) who also officiated NCAA Division I men's basketball games.^[3]

Steratore took over briefly as referee during a regular-season game on December 28, 2003, between theCarolina Panthers andNew York Giants after Bernie Kukar, the crew chief, was injured during a play in which he was hit in the back by the Giants' Clarence LeBlanc after a blocked punt.^[5]

Steratore worked his first NFL playoff game as a referee between theArizona Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers on January 10, 2009, atBank of America Stadium inCharlotte, North Carolina. Exactly one year later, he refereed theBaltimore Ravens' 33–14 victory over theNew England Patriots in anAmerican Football Conference (AFC)Wild Card game atGillette Stadium inFoxborough, Massachusetts.^[6]

Steratore was involved in a controversial instant replay call during week 1 of the2010 NFL season between theDetroit Lions and theChicago Bears atSoldier Field inChicago. Late in the fourth quarter, Lions receiverCalvin Johnson caught what was originally ruled as the winning touchdown for Detroit. After Steratore conferred with the officials he overturned the call to an incomplete pass, ruling that Johnson lost control of the ball while going to the ground before he "completed the process of completing the catch".^[7] Steratore was supported by the NFL and backed by its former vice president of officiating,Mike Pereira. The rule has since been referred to as the "Calvin Johnson rule".^[8]

Steratore was selected as the first referee to officiate a game following the2012 NFL referee lockout on September 27, 2012,^[9] a Thursday-night contest between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens. The Baltimore crowd cheered Steratore and his crew as they entered the field.

Steratore was named as referee for the NFC Championship game on January 19, 2014, between theSeattle Seahawks andSan Francisco 49ers.^[10]

Steratore was the referee during theNFC divisional playoff game between theDallas Cowboys and theGreen Bay Packers on January 11, 2015, when a fourth-quarter, fourth-down catch by Cowboys wide receiverDez Bryant was overturned using the "Calvin Johnson rule".^[11] The Packers challenged the call and after review, it was determined that the ball touched the ground before Bryant completed the catch.^[12]

In a game on December 17, 2017, between theDallas Cowboys andOakland Raiders, Steratore took the controversial step of employing anindex card normally used for recording penalties to assist him in determining whether the Cowboys had made the line to gain for a first down. His ruling that they had done so allowed Dallas to kick a late field goal in their 20–17 victory.^[13]

Steratore was the referee forSuper Bowl LII.^[14]

Steratore's retirement as an NFL referee was announced by the circuit's Senior Vice President of OfficiatingAlberto Riveron on June 22, 2018. He was the fourth referee to retire during the 2018 offseason along withEd Hochuli,Jeff Triplette andTerry McAulay.^[15]

Following retirement, he joined CBS Sports as arules analyst. CBS had not had a rules analyst on its staff since firingMike Carey following the 2015 season.^[16] In addition to providing analysis for NFL officiating, Steratore also contributes in a similar role for the network'scollege football coverage,college basketball coverage andNCAA March Madness onCBS/TBS/TNT/truTV. Steratore is unusual in that most other networks have not used a rules analyst for basketball or college football.^[4]

Steratore lives in his nativeWashington, Pennsylvania, a suburb ofPittsburgh.^[17]Gene has an older brother,Tony, who was also an NFL official until the 2021 offseason, when he retired. His father, Gene Steratore Sr., was acollege football official andbasketball referee.^[18]

Steratore and his brother are the co-owners of Steratore Sanitary Supply in Washington, Pennsylvania, outside of their NFL officiating duties.^[19][20]