LUMBERTON — In September, referee Brad Allen was announced as one of 21 full-time hires by the NFL.
On Sunday, the Lumberton native will take part in his second playoff assignment as the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Jacksonville Jaguars at 1:05 p.m. in the Divisional round of the AFC playoffs.
Allen, who became an NFL official in 2014, worked the Wild Card round last season when the Detroit Lions visited the Seattle Seahawks.
For 33 years and counting, Allen has been a referee at the high school and college levels en route to earning a position with the NFL.
A 1991 graduate of UNCP, Allen’s journey to becoming a referee started well before his days in Pembroke. In 1986, he became an official with the Southeastern Athletic Officials Association. He continued to call local games after advancing to the college ranks as an Atlantic Coast Conference official. Among his biggest games are the 2012 Rose Bowl, the 2014 Sugar Bowl and the Army-Navy game.
Allen, who remains committed to his Robeson County roots, has also served as executive director/president of the North Carolina Senior Games and the regional supervisor of high school basketball officials.
On March, 21, 2014, Allen reached the pinnacle of his career, receiving a call from Dean Blandino, the NFL’s vice president of officiating at the time, asking him to work on Sundays.
It was a historic hire, as Allen became the first rookie NFL official in the Super Bowl era to be the lead official of a crew in his first season. His first game was at Soldier Field in Chicago, as the Bears hosted the Buffalo Bills.
