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The NFL has officially revealed the referees for the AFC and NFC title games this weekend, and the two refs actually have a lot in common.

The referee for the AFC Championship is Alex Kemp. The ref in the NFC title game is Clay Martin. Both were promoted to the job of ref in 2018, and both will be serving as the referee in a conference title game for the first time Sunday.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at each the ref for each game.

AFC Championship ref: Alex Kemp

Kemp has been on the field as a referee for a total of seven playoff games in his career, but this will mark the first time that he's worked a conference title game. Before this year, his last postseason assignment came in a 2024 wild card game where the Ravens beat the Steelers.

The 52-year-old Kemp started his NFL officiating career as a field judge in 2014 before being promoted to referee in 2018.

One notable thing about Kemp is that his crew had an average of 115.1 penalty yards per game in 2025, which was the fourth-most in the NFL, according to NFLPenalties.com. Of course, Kemp won't be working with his normal crew, so it's possible that number will be cut down.

Here's a look at how the Broncos and Patriots have fared over the past five seasons when Kemp has served as the ref in one of their games (stats via Pro Football Reference).

  • Broncos: 3-1 (1-0 in 2025)
  • Patriots: 4-4 (3-0 in 2025)

The AFC title game marks the fourth time since Nov. 1 that Kemp has been the ref for a Patriots game. The three previous instances came in Week 10 (Patriots beat Buccaneers), Week 13 (Patriots beat Giants) and Week 17 (Patriots beat Jets). As for the Broncos, they haven't seen Kemp since Week 1 when he served as the ref for their season-opening 20-12 win over the Titans. 

The AFC title game kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on CBS.

NFC Championship ref: Clay Martin

This is the seventh playoff game for the 50-year-old Martin, who has been an NFL official since 2015. Before this year, his most recent postseason assignment came in a 2024 divisional round game that saw the Chiefs beat the Texans.

Martin was originally hired by the NFL as an umpire and he held that job for three seasons before being promoted to referee in 2018.

Here's a look at how the Rams and Seahawks have fared over the past five seasons when Martin has served as the ref in one of their games (stats via Pro Football Reference).

  • Rams: 7-0 (1-0 in 2025)
  • Seahawks: 4-3 (1-0 in 2025)

The Seahawks only saw Martin once this year and that came back in Week 6 when they beat the Jaguars, 20-12. As for the Rams, they also only had one game with Martin during the regular-season and that came in a 34-7 win over the Buccaneers in Week 12.

One other thing to note is that Martin does have some experience with this rivalry. He was the ref for a game between these two teams back in 2024 that the Rams ended up winning, 26-20, in overtime. That was actually a flag-filled game that saw 20 penalties called.

The Rams were penalized eight times for 83 yards while the Seahawks were flagged 12 times for 95 yards. The 178 combined penalty yards were the eighth-most in any game during the 2024 season. Most fans would probably prefer not to see such a flag fest Sunday.

Of the six previous playoff games that Martin has been the referee for, one of them actually involved the Rams. During the Rams' Super Bowl winning season in 2021, he was the ref for their 34-11 win over the Cardinals in the wild card round.

The showdown between the Seahawks and Rams kicks off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox.