Dean Blandino, the NFL officiating director who has overseen rule changes that emphasized player safety, is leaving the league.
The 45-year-old Blandino wants to spend more time with his family and explore other opportunities. He has young children and the job demands limited his time with them and his wife.
He has been the league’s vice president of officiating since 2013. Blandino joined the NFL in 1994 as an intern and moved through the ranks.
‘‘Dean has done an outstanding job leading our officiating department,’’ Troy Vincent, the league’s executive vice president of football operations, said Friday after informing the 32 teams of Blandino’s decision. ‘‘He has been a trusted colleague and a friend to so many of us around the league.’’
‘‘Dean’s knowledge of the playing rules, his tireless commitment to improving the quality of NFL officiating, and his unquestioned dedication to his job has earned him the respect of the entire football community.’’
Blandino was an instant replay official from 1999-2003 and worked two Super Bowls and two conference championship games. He managed the NFL’s instant replay program from 2003-2009, and from 2007-2009 he was director of officiating, supervising day-to-day operations and the game officials’ schedule under Mike Pereira.
He left the NFL in 2009 to form his own company, returned in 2012 and succeeded Carl Johnson as chief of officiating the next year.
During his three years away from the NFL, Blandino launched ‘‘Under the Hood,’’ which provided training and evaluation for replay officials.
His clients included the NFL and college conferences such as the Big Ten, Mid-American, Pac-12, Big 12, and Mountain West.
He directed instant replay clinics for the NFL and NCAA and served as a liaison to the NFL’s competition committee.
That is a possible avenue if he returns to the game, or he could follow Pereira into broadcasting. Pereira is a Fox analyst and essentially created a platform for former officiating executives.
Eli involved in scam?
A lawsuit over claims that Giants employees created counterfeit memorabilia produced a startling allegation Thursday. A court filing contained e-mails that, according to the plaintiffs, show quarterback Eli Manning conspiring to peddle helmets falsely depicted as being game-used.
Manning has a contract with memorabilia dealer Steiner Sports to provide authentic equipment worn by him. However, the lawsuit claims that, rather than ‘‘give up the real stuff,’’ as an equipment manager is alleged to have acknowledged to one of the plaintiffs, the two-time Super Bowl MVP preferred to have team staffers create fake versions of helmets and jerseys.
Falcons’ White retires
Roddy White, the leading receiver in Falcons history, has officially retired.
White has announced his retirement on his Twitter account. White, who was released by Atlanta before the 2016 season, thanked team owner Arthur Blank and the Falcons ‘‘for a great 11 years.’’
White, 35, is the Falcons’ career leader in receptions, yards receiving, and touchdown catches. He did not land with another team after being cut by Atlanta.
Rule-breakers
Redskins linebacker Trent Murphy, second of the team in tackles last season, was suspended the first four games of next season for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Murphy is suspended without pay for the first four regular-season games, but he can participate in offseason workouts and preseason games . . . Cornerback Nick Marshall of the Jets was suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the 2017 regular season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancers. This is the third offseason suspension for the Jets. Wide receiver Jalin Marshall has been barred for four games and tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins for two . . . Jets center Wesley Johnson signed his restricted free agent tender as the likely replacement for Nick Mangold, who was released in February.
