Mike Pereira, a trailblazer in sports TV broadcasting, was conspicuous in his absence on Sunday.

Pereira is an officiating expert for Fox Sports’ NFL coverage, a position he pioneered and has since been adopted by every other football broadcast partner in addition to spreading to other sports, announced Sunday that he could be out for the whole season with an injured back.

“Well, the season is starting and for me, I am on IR. Bad back and soon to come surgery keeps me from traveling and keeps me home,” Pereira tweeted.

“You are blessed not to see me on the tube for the possibly the season. I will be able to answer your questions during the week that you might have.”

Pereira, 73, was a referee in college football from 1982-95 before spending two seasons as an NFL side judge.

He became an NFL supervisor of officiating in 1998, getting promoted to Director of Officiating in 2001 and Vice President of Officiating in 2004, a position he held until his retirement in 2009.

Pereira joined Fox Sports as a rules analyst in 2010.

He has thrived in the role ever since, delivering clear, concise explanations at the drop of a hat for even the wonkiest of NFL rule-book scenarios, with a half-dozen or more games happening at the same time.

He succeeded so much in the job that the other networks began to raid the league’s officiating ranks, with Gene Steratore going to CBS, Terry McAulay to NBC and John Parry to ESPN.

This was a phenomenon Aaron Rodgers observed last year in an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show”.

“Listen, the best refs we’ve had in the league are on TV now,” Rodgers said. “They’re not working in the league office. They’re on TV. Gene Steratore, my favorite ref of all-time. I think one of the best guys at understanding how to interact with guys and how to communicate with them, and then how to control a game without being a part of it. Gene was incredible at that, but Gene is on TV now. Why? Because they pay more.

“Terry McAulay, also a fantastic referee. He’s not working as the head of refs for the league office. He’s on TV. John Parry, another great referee. What is he doing? He’s working on TV. All of these guys who were fantastic whitecaps, and all who’ve left in probably the last five years. You’ve had eight or nine really good whitecap longtime referees. Are any of them working at the league office? No.”

Dean Blandino, another former NFL VP of officiating, is also a rules analyst for Fox, and handled the gap left by Pereira on Sunday.