John Hussey will serve as the head referee for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ regular season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals Saturday night, the league announced Tuesday.
This will be the first Steelers’ game Hussey and his crew have worked all season. While we usually discuss how many flags each crew throws, this crew goes in the opposite direction. On the year, there have been just 163 flags thrown during his games, the fewest of any official in the NFL. On a per-game basis, Hussey is fourth-fewest, only ahead of Carl Cheffers, Land Clark, and Alan Eck.
Like every other crew, he calls offensive holding (31) and false starts most frequently (26). Defensive pass interference is third-most frequent, with 19 flags this season. Defensive holding and unnecessary roughness have been called 12 times each throughout the year.
It’s uncommon for Hussey to be assigned to a Steelers game. The last one he officiated took place in November of 2023, a Steelers Thursday night win over the Tennessee Titans. That night, Pittsburgh was penalized only seven times for 51 yards, while Tennessee was tagged 10 times for 80 yards. Before that, Hussey worked the team’s 2022 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills. Following a late-game skirmish, Hussey got into an argument with Bills DE A.J. Epenesa, who was promptly ejected. However, it had little influence on the outcome.
Hussey is one of the NFL’s longest-tenured refs at a position that’s witnessed plenty of retirements in recent seasons. He got his start in the league in 2002 and served as a line judge until being promoted to head referee in 2015. The first Steelers’ game he ever worked in ’02 against the Bengals was a 29-21 Pittsburgh victory. That day, Bill Cowher and Dick LeBeau served as the respective head coaches. Now, Hussey will officiate an important finale between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
Hussey went viral in 2020 for offering a rare in-game apology after confusion delayed an announcement in a primetime matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals.
