Daniel ChavkinFri, November 21, 2025 at 3:55 AM UTC·1 min readNFL referee Adrian Hill injury: Head official leaves Bills-Texans with non-contact injury originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Injuries occur every NFL game, but on Thursday night, it was an official who suffered the most serious injury.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdrian Hill, the referee working the Thursday night game between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans, had to be carted off the field after suffering a non-contact injury. Hill is a seven-year official who led the crew, announcing all the penalties to the crowd and audience.
The game had to be stopped as medical staff looked at Hill, ultimately deciding to pull him from the game. Here's a look at what happened to the lead official.
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NFL referee Adrian Hill injury
Hill appeared to suffer an injury away from the play in the third quarter as he came up limping while running to make a call. Medical staff came out to check on Hill and ended up helping him off the field, as Hill would eventually be carted off.
With Hill out, umpire Roy Ellison took over for Hill as the referee in the game. Ellison is a veteran official who has worked as an umpire since 2003.
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How many NFL refs per game?
Each NFL game has seven officials who all hold a different job, including:
Referee
Umpire
Down Judge
Line Judge
Field Judge
Side Judge
Back Judge
The referee acts as the crew chief, announcing penalties to the crowd and audience throughout the game. If the referee can't go for whatever reason, the umpire would take over the referee's responsibilities.
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