Getting one of the London games seems on paper to be a great assignment for an NFL official. If travel schedules permit, working a game across the pond would seemingly open up the opportunity to take in the sights and sounds. Anyone who has traveled for work knows that it’s perfectly fine to sneak in some touristy activities and then have an existential struggle with one’s self when it’s time to file an expense report.
A downside of flying off to remote location to officiate football is that it means you’ll be further from the usual medical care provided at home. So we should keep the Larry Smith, a longtime NFL umpire, in our thoughts after he suffered a nasty looking non-contact injury while working Sunday’s Houston Texans-Jacksonville Jaguars contest.
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The unfortunate incident happened on a harmless enough move as Smith slipped on the turf.
Prayers: This NFL ref slipped during today’s game in London and appears to have torn his ACL. The ref had to be carted away. Brutal 💔🙏 https://t.co/O6F4Z5U9Qi
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 18, 2026
Trainers jumped into action to tend to the fallen official as concerned on-lookers monitored the situation. One of those included the line judge, who displayed a strong sense of team by taking a knee out of respect for his injured colleague.
The line judge took a knee out of respect for his injured teammate. All class. https://t.co/FyVSq4EB7n
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 18, 2026
How NFL replaces injured officials
Officiating crews usually have seven referees for any given game, with the crew chief, umpire, down judge, line judge, field judge, side judge and back judge.
Smith was the umpire for the game and his role is to monitor interior line play and legality of linemen downfield.
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There is no extra referee on site, so the officials will have to move forward with a six-man crew.
Thankfully, replay assist is also now available in the league, so that should help make up for not having the seventh ref.
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