Jim Quirk Sr., NFL officiating veteran and executive director of the NFL Referees Association, the officials union, is retiring from his post, according to an Associated Press report.
Quirk has been executive director since 2013.
Former NFL referee and former president of the NFLRA, Scott Green, will replace Quirk. Green was NFLRA president before current president Jeff Triplette succeeded Green.
Quirk told the AP:
I am very happy that Scott will succeed me. I’ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to serve the NFLRA membership for over 12 years.
Quirk’s son, Jim Quirk Jr., is currently a back judge in the NFL.
Just this past spring, the NFLRA rank-and-file voted to keep Quirk as executive director after there was some speculation that he wouldn’t continue in the post.
Quirk, a 21-year line judge and umpire, was known as a bulldog on the field (video), and, no doubt it was a reputation that secured his appointment in 2013 after the retirement of Tim Millis. Quirk’s appointment came the year after the officials were locked out by the NFL during collective bargaining.
That bulldog persona was on display in his tenure at the NFLRA as Quirk aggressively defended the officials publicly.
While Quirk’s statements courted controversy with the league, some of his recent comments got him sideways with some NFLRA members. Quirk publicly criticized Terry McAulay’s crew last year after several skirmishes between Odell Beckham Jr., Josh Norman, and Courtland Finnegan. McAulay resigned from the NFLRA.
Counting his officiating days, Quirk, 76, has been associated with NFL officiating since 1988. He worked Super Bowl XXXII, the Packers-Broncos classic.
Green officiated in the NFL from 1991-2013 as a back judge and referee. He worked three Super Bowls.
The current NFLRA collective bargaining agreement runs through 2019, which was negotiated in part by Green.
Congratulations to Quirk on his career and best wishes to Green in his new role.
Jim is a great guy, great official and did a great job for the NFLRA. The fact he ruffled some feathers by telling it like it is shouldn’t be a surprise if you know Jim, it’s his style. Hope Scott Green continues to be an advocate for all officials, college officials too, and will help the league on getting the best people possible to officiate in the NFL vs trying to be politically correct. Enjoy retirement Jim!
Al,
It doesn’t matter what good Quirk did for the NFLRA, he lost all credibility last December.
Now again, McAulay and company should’ve ejected people last year, but he got screwed by Quirk and the NFLRA. It is not the union’s job to publicly critique the performance of its members, period. If they had a problem with what he did, they should have addressed it privately with the official(s) involved, and possibly management if it was warranted. Let the NFL and Blandino make the criticisms, and if they go over the top, you defend him. Union 101.
This is like paying a defense lawyer to defend you and having them make public comments that side with the prosecution… ridiculous. If Jim Quirk was truly a bulldog, he would’ve defended McAulay. What he did was completely unacceptable as the head of the NFLRA. Good riddance.
My main man TQ – sorry but it looks like we disagree again. Jim tells it like it is and lets the chips fall where they may. Mcaulay wasn’t ever a ‘union guy’ and it appears he has issues with fellow officials liking him, and I’m guessing Jim might be one of them!!!!!!! If you think what Quirk did was bad, check out what Mcaulay’s good friend Diaopolus said about him and his crew on ESPN the next day. Talk about throwing someone under the bus.
You will get a first hand look at his work this weekend when the Gmen play the Steelers. Should be interesting. I hope the G-men’s O’line has a good day, cuz he didn’t protect Cam a few weeks ago so he surely won’t be protecting Eli on Sunday. Enjoy the game.
Al,
The difference between Quirk and Daopoulos is that Quirk is in a position where he is honor-bound to stick up for his guys no matter what. Since he disagreed with his guy, the correct course of action was to handle the matter privately, not throw his guy under the bus. Daopoulos isn’t in such a position; therefore, he has more freedom to express his opinions without consequence. For what it’s worth, Mike Pereira agreed that Quirk was out of line in how he handled things.
Also, if you’re going to argue, at least spell the names correctly. It’s McAulay; you capitalize the 1st A. Furthermore, it’s Daopoulos; there’s no I in his name. Maybe you should go read a book on Sunday instead of watching football.
TQ; if I had any respect for either of them I’d remember how to spell their names. Both would throw their own mothers under the bus in a heartbeat and do regularly!. I will be reading a book on Sunday vs watching mcaulay screw up the giant game.