About

Ripped Ref is the nickname given to Mike Defee, a muscular referee at the 2017 College Football National Championship game between the University of Alabama and Clemson University.

Origin

The 2017 College Football National Championship game between the University of Alabama and Clemson University was officiated by Mike Defee. Defee's large biceps instantly drew commentary from viewers on Twitter. One of the first tweets was from the account of sports website The Ringer,^[1] who tweeted a joke with a screenshot of Defee officiating the coin toss.

Spread

Jokes about the Defee's stature appeared on Twitter throughout the game. Uproxx^[2] first posted about the spread of the jokes on Twitter. Yahoo Sports followed^[3] (reposting Uproxx's article). SB Nation^[4] and Kansas City Star^[5] also wrote similar articles. Many of the jokes referenced National Football League referee Ed Hochuli, who also is known for his muscular upper body.

The spread of the jokes was compiled in a Twitter Moment^[6] the night of the game.

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References