'I know the rules': How this Somerset Berkley grad went from football player to referee

Officiating high school games can be a daunting task for the men and women in stripes.

Knowledge of the rule book is critical in making quick and precise decisions. More often than not, this leads to jeers, not cheers, from opposing sidelines.

Being a referee can be a thankless job, especially when they battle the elements on days when Mother Nature will not cooperate.

But Somerset resident Cameron Filipe, who is in his second year as a high school official, said it is all part of the job he signed up to do.

"I feel like a lot of times, no matter how studied one thinks they are, there are so many intricacies," said Filipe, 23. "There are times when it's like, 'How can you call this or how does it make sense?' You get a lot of jeers from the sidelines. I'm thinking in my head, I know I'm right. I know the rules."'

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Seeing sports from the other side

"When I was growing up watching football at 7, I feel like I've taken a new view of the game in terms of my [field] I work in," he said. "It's like night and day. I don't watch football on TV like I used to, say maybe five or six years ago. You're responsible for certain things in each play."

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Filipe said if he's working the line of scrimmage, he's viewing the tackles and guards on his side to see if players are jumping before the snap. He's also watching receivers on his side to see if they're lead blockers.

"It is completely different than if you watch as a fan," Filipe said. "One of the biggest things as an official is you're not supposed to watch the ball in flight."

When it comes to being biased, too, about refereeing a game with his hometown team on the field, Filipe said it never enters into his mind.

"I get my game assignments a week or two weeks before the game, and to me, I'm officiating blue versus white or red versus white," he said. "It is not the schools. I take that to every game, every level whether a youth game, Pop Warner game, JV game, or varsity.

"They pay us to make the right call, and that's what I try and do on every play. I love to have a perfect game each Friday night, but it is not going to happen. I do everything that I can to make the right call."

A journey from athlete to stripes

Filipe played football at Somerset Middle (while they still had a team) in 2011-12 before playing for the freshman team at SBR in 2013.

Filipe, 23, played tight end and safety, but was always a second- or third-stringer. He quit the team following that season to pursue officiating, to stay close to the game.

"I was one of the kids that got put in the fourth quarter," he said. "The highlight of my career was a tackle on a kickoff, and it happened once. It was one of those things — being a referee — where I can still be [part] of the game and something I feel I'm better at."

Filipe first developed an interest in officiating during gym class as a student at Somerset Middle School. His gym teacher, Jo-Ellen Paterno, asked him to teach the class about basic pass routes and the rules of officiating.

After learning he needed to be 18 to officiate, Filipe started to learn the rulebook and became a fan of NFL officiating.

In 2016, he joined the team at Football Zebras as a contributing writer and took an editorial role with the site in 2018.

"I had been following the site as a fan and reader since 2013," Filipe said. "When [the] opportunity came to join as a contributor, I jumped at the opportunity. It has given me great opportunities, in terms of following officiating as a fan. It is great to meet up with people with similar interests."

During college at the University of New Haven, Conn., he became an intramural flag football official. In 2017, Filipe became the first freshman student selected to officiate in the championship game as the head referee.

The following year, he was promoted to intramural supervisor, where he trained, observed, and evaluated student officials. In 2019, Filipe was assigned to officiate a National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) regional semifinal at the head referee position.

He is a second-year graduate student at Boston University, pursuing his master's degree in biomedical forensic sciences. Filipe graduated from New Haven in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in forensic science.

This past spring, he also had the opportunity to officiate for the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) — the world’s largest female professional football league. Filipe officiated the 2022 Pro National Conference Championship Game between the Pittsburgh Passion and the Boston Renegades in Revere.

NFL dreams

Filipe said making it as an official in the National Football League is the ultimate goal. Making it to the NFL as an official is almost as hard as making it as a player.

"You have to go through the entire steps all the way through," he said. "Thankfully, I work with an association that promotes advancement. You have to get several high school varsity games under your belt to become a college official. When I become qualified to officiate college football, I'd love to advance."

Filipe said officials are scouted at Division I and II levels for pro positions just like the players are.

"I know a lot about how the NFL works when it comes to their hires," he said.

He has been to the New England Patriots training games as a media member several times to cover new referee rules presentations back in 2017 and 2018. This summer, he attended the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony when they inducted the first official into Canton — Art McNally.

"I grew up Patriot fan, but I'm an officiating fan," Filipe said. "I can name every NFL official on the field. I can tell you what their numbers are. That's the team that I follow."

Filipe always wanted to stay connected to the game of football. He covered it for his high school newspaper for two years so he could roam the sidelines instead of playing it.

Now he calls it as he sees it and will stand by his calls 100%. He knows the rules.

"People say it is weird, but it's something I've involved myself with since high school," Filipe said.

Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette sports editor Steven Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@heraldnews.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Chezsports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Football player to referee: Somerset Berkley graduate has NFL dreams