CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You likely know that former Panthers star tight end Greg Olsen will be in the broadcast booth Saturday, calling the Carolina-L.A. Rams playoff game in Charlotte for Fox Sports.

You might know that Olsen’s partner, Joe Davis, will be up there calling the play-by-play as well.

What you might not know that, in some of the most critical moments of the game, Fox Sports rules analyst Mike Pereira will be standing right next to Olsen, ready to weigh in on the most important officiating calls. Normally, Pereira patches into the broadcasts from a Fox broadcast studio in Los Angeles (he lives in California).

But for a game this big, he’s planning to be on-site. And count him as one of the many people glad this wild-card game is in Charlotte.

“I don’t like to be cold,” Pereira laughed. “So I asked, ‘If (this playoff game) is in Chicago or if it’s in Philadelphia, do I have to go? But if it’s in Charlotte, I’d love to go.’ ”

Pereira, 75, is the originator of the in-house rules analyst role, now widely copied by other networks and by other sports, too. Once an NFL official himself, Pereira became the NFL’s vice president of officiating and then made the leap to TV in 2010.

What makes Pereira so effective on TV is that he has real opinions. He’s not wishy-washy. He agrees or disagrees with officiating decisions, giving the TV audience an informed opinion from someone who’s actually done the job. And unlike some rules analysts, he doesn’t seem to lean 90% of the time on the side of “Here’s why that was a good call” to protect his officiating brethren.

Pereira and I spoke on a variety of topics by phone this week in the run-up to Carolina’s first home playoff game in 10 years. He offered opinions on a couple of the key calls that went against the Panthers in their 16-14 loss at Tampa Bay last Saturday, talked about his legacy and mentioned two changes he would make regarding NFL officiating if he could.

Here are Pereira’s thoughts on several topics, edited for clarity and brevity.

— On the Rico Dowdle backward pass and “erroneous whistle” vs. Tampa: “There are very few erroneous whistles nowadays. … Carolina should have been given a clear option to replay the down, and that’s where there was a communications breakdown. … I don’t think they did a very good job getting to Carolina and saying, ‘Look, we double-dipped you. You can replay the down, if you like, so you’re not stuck with this 7-yard loss.’ ”

— On the Tetairoa McMillan offensive pass interference call vs. Tampa, which negated a 32-yard pass: “There’s so much contact coming off the line. … I mean, the receiver is really trying to get out into his route, and it ends up they collide. … I think it was more of a collision than it was an absolute shove-off. … I can see why it was called. … But in my opinion, they would have been better off leaving that one alone.”

— On his legacy: “When I left the NFL, my legacy was that I was the guy that took the officials out of white knickers and put them in black pants. Great thing to be known for, huh?

“And then I started a foundation (Battlefields to Ballfields), which we have now and has been going since 2016. We give scholarships to veterans to become sports officials in their communities. That was a better legacy.

“And I am proud that I was the one that started the rules analyst thing. … I think the full broadcast of the game is better now, because of rules analysts. … The fact that I helped make the broadcast better for the fans and more understandable when it comes to rules — I’d like to be known for that.”

— On rules changes he’d like to see: “I’ll give you two. I’ve said this forever, but I don’t like the NFL’s pass interference rule. I like the college rule better. I don’t like 40-yard penalties or 50-yard penalties. And when I worked for the league and ran the department, I hated 40-yard mistakes. Just hated them.

“I think the college rule (for defensive pass interference) is better. Make it a maximum 15 yards, which basically falls in line with any other big penalty. … In real times, it’s the hardest call on the field to make, in my opinion. And it adds an element of pressure on the officials.

“For my second one, I think it’s time to look at full-time officials (the NFL has never had them; some other pro sports leagues do). Not everyone. But I do believe that the person that represents the crew in the field, the guy in the white hat, the referee — I think those 17 people should be full-time working together all year. Not going home in between games, but going to an officiating institute and breaking down all the games together, so the messages are consistent. … I’m not a fan of making everyone full-time, but make the referees full-time. To me, it’s time for that.”

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