An NFL referee is either your team’s best friend or its worst enemy. There is no in-between about it. Take the 2018 NFC Championship Game between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams, for example. You either love them dearly or hate them unmercifully. The feeling toward NFL officiating — from the regular season to the playoffs — will never change, either. In many ways it takes a lot to be an NFL referee, and it’s not even a full-time job. There are no days off or company health insurance. All NFL officials need to be physically fit, know the rules of the game, and be able to make a correct call in a split second. Don’t worry, though. They get paid so much money. According to various outlets, including FanDuel, the average annual salary National Football League referee is set to make $205,000 starting in 2019. That’s more than some doctors. With 17 weeks in the NFL regular season, a referee would make over $12,000 per NFL game this season. That doesn’t even include the bonus checks game officials receive during postseason football games, including the Super Bowl. This paves the way for umpires, head linesman/down judges, line judges, field judges, side judges and back judges to move up in the ranks. So whether you only graduated from high school or earned your Master’s degree, you can live the American dream with an NFL referee salary like longtime ref John Parry did and never have to worry after the big game is over.