Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic American football terminology

Hi all,

If you know about American football, I could really use your help with an original fiction short story I am writing which is based on a visual prompt of an American football referee. I dislike organized sports in general, and violent ones in particular, so I am dipping my toes into an area in which I know very little.

Would the referee refer to his/her upper garment as a jersey, or just as a shirt? Search engine results are inconclusive. I think "shirt" would be a safer bet, but if "jersey" is appropriate, its use would make it seem more as if I actually knew what I was talking about.

Thanks in advance for any help.

- Lynn

I'm not an expert by any means but my opinion is "jersey" since it's part of a uniform. On the other hand, I cheated and looked up several sporting good suppliers and, while both terms are used, "shirt" seems to be in the majority.

Hi Shallowford,

Thank you. Your research is in accord with mine. I am guessing I probably could go with either term. I just wanted to make sure that if I used "jersey" it wouldn't reveal how little I know about American football. I hadn't been sure whether only players' tops were referred to by that term.

I am still indecisive, but I have another week or so before I post the story, so I still have time to choose.

Thanks again,
Lynn

Here's a twist for you. This site gives a breakdown of the officials and their specific play-by-play responsibilities. It turns out that, despite the common usage of "referee" applying to all seven officials, "referee" is a specific position. The other six are line judge, back judge, side judge, field judge, down judge, and umpire.

Aren't sports terms fun?

A companion site listing the history of NFL officials' uniforms calls it a "shirt" and not a "jersey."

I don't know if all this throws a monkey wrench in your story or not. I can tell you, though, that only the most diehard NFL fans (and, of course, the officials themselves) care about the names of the officials' positions. They're all "zebras" to the players.

Hi Terry,

Wow. I had no idea. Fortunately, this is a short-short story from the first person POV, and the narrator never refers to his role by name. So, not a monkey wrench in sight.

"Zebras" is quite appropriate; the story's (tentative) title is "Black and White."

And thanks to your research, I now plan to use "shirt."

Thanks again,
Lynn