Every NFL Referee's Full-Time Job, Including Financial Advisor, Aerospace Software Engineer and More

Since NFL referees are not full-time employees of the league, many of them work a regular job throughout the week to make most of their money before putting on the striped shirts for gamedays.

Football Zebras released the full list of NFL officials for the 2026 season, as well as a list of the day jobs most of them work before working games.

Some of the various jobs include financial advisor, aerospace software engineer, school counselor, sports park director and food safety enforcement coordinator.

There are a number of officials who work in the field of law, whether it's as a lawyer, manager at a law firm or magistrate judge.

Four of the 121 officials are former NFL players, including Nate Jones, Terry Killens, Mike Morton and Courtney Brown. Morton was a member of the 1999 St. Louis Rams team that won Super Bowl 34.

Per ESPN's Kevin Seifert, the average pay for officials during the 2025 season was $350,000 under a "multipronged" pay structure that includes game fees, meeting fees, preparation fees, bonuses and other benefits.

The NFL and NFL Referees Association agreed to a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement in May that avoided a work stoppage.