Corrente retiring as ref after 27-year NFL career

• ESPN.com national NFL writer
• ESPN.com NFC North reporter, 2008-2013
• Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008

Longtime NFL referee Tony Corrente will retire after officiating Sunday’s Pro Bowl, the league announced Saturday.

Corrente, who served the league in various capacities for 27 years, is one of eight officials who have decided to retire.

The referee in Super Bowl XLI after the 2006 season, Corrente recovered from throat cancer five years later. According to information he provided to the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, Corrente began feeling pain in his head and back after being knocked to the ground while separating players during a Week 1 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. He later began coughing up blood and, after seeking medical assistance, was found to have a cancerous mass at the base of his tongue. He continued working for much of the season and returned full-time in 2012.

This season, Corrente drew the ire of Chicago Bears fans when he flagged pass-rusher Cassius Marsh for taunting after a key fourth-quarter sack in the Bears’ 29-27 loss to the Steelers in Week 9. The NFL supported the decision, however, as part of its crackdown on taunting throughout the season.

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