Zebras in the Game.

Their black-and-white striped shirts

The nickname comes from the officials’ black-and-white stripes, which resemble a zebra’s coat. It is informal football slang. The uniform makes the officiating crew easy to recognize among players wearing their teams’ colors, even during a crowded play.

The referee

The referee is the crew chief and wears the white cap. The other six on-field officials each have assigned responsibilities. When the referee announces a penalty, the flag may have come from another official’s view of the play.

Los Angeles Rams

Tampa Bay hosted the Rams for this officiating milestone on Monday Night Football. Referee Jerome Boger led the seven-person crew. The game put a notable chapter in NFL officiating history on the same field as the Buccaneers.

Art McNally

Art McNally’s contribution went far beyond announcing calls. After his on-field career, he helped develop formal evaluation and training for NFL officials and advanced instant replay. Canton recognized that lasting influence when he joined the Hall’s Class of 2022.

Report his eligibility to the referee

The number on a tackle’s jersey normally identifies an ineligible receiver. To play an eligible role, he must report the change to the referee, who informs the defense. He must report again before each play in that changed status.

A touchdown

A team cannot prevent an otherwise certain touchdown by sending somebody off its bench. The palpably unfair act provisions let officials restore an equitable result. In this specific situation, the officials can award the touchdown instead of simply moving the ball.

Yes, if it is a tip rather than a controlled catch thrown forward

Eligible players may tip a forward pass in flight in any direction. That creates room for a legal deflection to a teammate. Taking control and then throwing the ball forward is a different act, so the official must distinguish the two.

A field-goal attempt by fair catch kick

A fair catch can lead to a special field-goal attempt without a snap. The defense must remain ten yards away, and a placekick cannot use a tee. The option is unusual, but it belongs in the NFL rulebook.

Goaltending

Football has goaltending, too. A defender cannot stand by the goal and leap to deflect the kick as it passes above the crossbar. This is different from blocking a kick near the line of scrimmage before it reaches the goal.

Leaping

Mike Vanderjagt missed an overtime field-goal attempt, but the leaping flag against Rice gave Indianapolis another chance. Vanderjagt converted the next attempt. The rule then addressed a running start followed by a jump that ended on other players. This question identifies the recorded call, without asking fans to settle the controversy.

Offside

Tampa Bay initially lined up to tie the game with an extra point. Washington's offside penalty wiped out a block and moved the next try closer to the goal line. Jon Gruden sent the offense back out, and Alstott powered in from one yard away for two points and a 36–35 victory.

Illegal touching after going out of bounds

Officials ruled that Williams had gone out of bounds at the back of the end zone, returned, and become the first player to touch the pass. Illegal touching erased the apparent nine-yard touchdown, and Tampa Bay lost 35–28. The catch itself was not the deciding issue; the receiver's eligibility was.

Shoving Geno Smith after he went out of bounds

David was flagged for a late hit at the sideline after Geno Smith's scramble. The 15 yards moved New York from Tampa Bay's 45 to its 30, setting up Nick Folk's winning 48-yard field goal. The Jets won 18–17. It is a concrete example of how a personal foul can change field position.

Illegal kicking

An early snap bounced into Tampa Bay's end zone before Freeman was ready. He kicked the loose ball out the back to prevent a possible Jets touchdown recovery. The team's game report records an illegal-kicking penalty and a safety, giving New York two points. A deliberate kick of a loose ball is not an ordinary punt.

New York Jets

Tampa Bay's 14 accepted penalties against the New York Jets on September 21, 2025 were its highest game total of that regular season. The Bucs lost 124 penalty yards but still won 29–27. The team's own recap describes a first possession repeatedly interrupted by holding calls.

Offensive holding

Offensive holding led Tampa Bay's 2025 list with 26 accepted penalties, ahead of 19 false starts. Those holding calls accounted for 255 enforced yards. The comparison uses the database's Against column; declined and offsetting flags appear separately. This is a completed-season fact, with no claim about every Buccaneers season.

Mike Evans

Evans was ejected late in Tampa Bay's 38–10 loss at Carolina on January 3, 2016. The team report attributes his two unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties to an exchange with an official. This was the finale of the 2015 season, a separate incident from his later altercations involving the Saints' Marshon Lattimore.

Penalized but not ejected; later suspended one game

Evans drew a penalty but stayed in the 2017 game after hitting Lattimore following a play. The league subsequently imposed a one-game suspension for violations involving unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct. A suspension announced after a game is different from an ejection by the officiating crew during that game.

Mike Evans and Marshon Lattimore

Evans and Lattimore were both ejected following an altercation early in the fourth quarter. Tampa Bay went on to win 20–10. The NFL later suspended Evans for one game; Lattimore did not receive a suspension. This 2022 incident therefore involved both an immediate ejection and a separate later disciplinary decision.

Automatic disqualification

Coaches are covered as non-player personnel. Two qualifying unsportsmanlike fouls trigger automatic disqualification even when the opponent declines the penalties. This provision covers specified conduct, including abusive language; it does not mean that any two penalties automatically eject someone.