Be the Referee: Tourney Selection
By
Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
November 18, 2021
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Tourney Selection - Listen
Today we are going to talk about how officials are selected for the MHSAA Football Playoffs. Just as the best teams advance in the tournament week after week, the best officiating crews advance in the tournament in much the same way.
For a crew to be eligible for assignment, many requirements have to be met prior to the season – submission of their season schedule, making sure that the crew has completed the annual rules meeting, as well as a football rules test. Much weight is given to ratings – each crew is rated by schools following each game as well as observation reports where officiating experts go out and either watch crews work live or on video in making sure that the best crews advance throughout the tournament.
Previous editions
Nov. 4: Receiver Carried Out of End Zone – Listen
Oct. 28: Volleyball Back-Row Block – Listen
Oct. 21: Soccer Disallowed Goal – Listen
Sept 30: Field Goal Falls Short – Listen
Sept. 23: Volleyball Obstruction – Listen
Sept. 16: Catch or No Catch – Listen
Sept. 9: Intentional Grounding – Listen
Sept. 2: Pass Interference – Listen
Aug. 26: Protocols and Mechanics – Listen
In Shoulder Pads & Stripes, Michigan Superbly Represented at Super Bowl LX
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
February 9, 2026
MHSAA football champion? Check.
NCAA football champion? Check.
Super Bowl champion? Check.
Winning has become routine for Muskegon’s Anthony Bradford.
Bradford starred on the offensive line for the Big Reds, helping deliver the MHSAA 11-Player Division 3 championship in 2017. He kept collecting titles at LSU as part of the Tigers’ national championship team in 2019. Now, he’s reached the sport’s biggest stage as a Super Bowl champion.
The Seahawks’ starting right guard played a major role in Seattle’s second Super Bowl title, a 29-13 win over New England on Sunday in Super Bowl LX. Seattle rushed for 141 yards and allowed just one sack in the victory.
Bradford wasn’t the only former MHSAA athlete connected to the Seahawks this season. Wide receivers Tyrone Broden (West Bloomfield, 2019) and Cody White (Walled Lake Western, 2016), along with offensive lineman Logan Brown (East Kentwood, 2019), spent time on the practice squad or injured reserve. Defensive lineman Johnathan Hankins (Detroit Southeastern, 2010) was released in early December.
New England also featured MHSAA ties, with offensive lineman Mike Onwenu (Detroit Cass Tech, 2016) and punter Bryce Baringer (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 2017) on the Super Bowl roster.
Super Bowl LX was officiated by referee Shawn Smith, a graduate of Detroit Cody, where he played football and ran track. Smith was a registered MHSAA official for 18 years before advancing to the college ranks and eventually the NFL.
PHOTOS (Top) Shawn Smith, center with white hat, poses for a photo with his officiating crew at Sunday's Super Bowl. (Middle) Muskegon's Anthony Bradford lines up against Farmington Hills Harrison in 2017. (Smith photo courtesy of the NFL/Ben Liebenberg.)