Terry Deleon Killens (born March 24, 1974) is an American football official and former linebacker. He played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Seattle Seahawks. He was drafted in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft.[1] In the 1999 season, the Titans made it to Super Bowl XXXIV, in which Killens appeared as a substitute;[2] however, they lost to the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams.[3]

Terry Killens
No. 50, 56, 52
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1974-03-24) March 24, 1974 (age 50)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Career information
High school:Purcell Marian
(Cincinnati, Ohio)
College:Penn State
NFL draft:1996 / Round: 3 / Pick: 74
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:31
Sacks:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Killens has been a football official since at least 2013, working in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).[4] In 2019, Killens was also an official in the Alliance of American Football (AAF), working as an umpire on the crew led by referee Tra Blake.[4]

It was announced in April 2019 that Killens would be joining the NFL officiating staff for the 2019 season. He wears uniform number 77, which was previously worn by three-time Super Bowl referee Terry McAulay (and before that, Mike Pereira). Killens works at the umpire position, as he did in the AAC and AAF.[5][6]

Killens was the umpire for Super Bowl LVIII in 2024, making him the first person to both play in and officiate a Super Bowl.[7][3]

References edit

  1. ^ "1996 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  2. ^ "Super Bowl XXXIV Team Rosters". sportspool.com. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Wright, Branson (February 6, 2024). "Former NFL player Terry Killens returns to Super Bowl as a referee". Andscape. ESPN. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Austro, Ben (February 7, 2019). "Officiating crews for the 2019 AAF season". footballzebras.com. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  5. ^ Filipe, Cameron (April 17, 2019). "6 officials join the NFL officiating roster for the 2019 season". Football Zebras. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  6. ^ "Two former NFL players discuss path to becoming referees". NFL. May 17, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  7. ^ Smith, Michael David (January 23, 2024). "Terry Killens becomes the first person to both play in and officiate a Super Bowl". nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved January 23, 2024.