Referee Tony Corrente celebrates his 70th birthday on November 12. In his 27th season, he is in small company of officials who were on the field into their 70s. Down judge Mike Spanier, who retired after the 2019 season, was 70 in his final season. And there aren't likely many
Tag: Ben Dreith
The time has come for Walt Coleman to call a Raiders game
Commentary by Mark Schultz The NFL needs to stop worrying about reputation and P.R. and assign its officials without past games in mind. Specifically, the NFL needs to have referee Walt Coleman call an Oakland Raiders game. Coleman's last Raiders game was January 19, 2002, a divisional playoff in New England against
NCAA referee with the announcement of the year
Big 10 referee and Officiating Development Program official Don Willard made a mistake Saturday. He faced the wrong way when announcing a foul. It can happen. It has happened to the best, many times. But, the way he handled himself with a live microphone places him into nomination for referee announcement of
College football referee Ron Cherry retires
Embed from Getty Images Ron Cherry, one of the most recognizable college football referees for the last decade, has retired according to the Winston-Salem Journal. Cherry suffered a head injury in the USC-Notre Dame game last season and underwent emergency neurosurgery a month later to remove a blood clot. Famous calls Cherry officiated football
4-time Super Bowl umpire Art Demmas passes away at 82
50 Super Bowl calls, Part 3: XXX to XXI
Happy belated birthday to Ben Dreith
Several NFL officials have ties to the NCAA basketball tournament
At least three have worked the Final Four Several officials work multiple sports from Pop Warner to the pros. There is quite a history of NFL officials working major college basketball. Currently, Gene Steratore (pictured) and Bill Vinovich work major college basketball. But they are just the current in a long line of
Referee announcements have come a long way in 38 years
In 1975, the NFL decided to put a wireless microphone on the referee for penalty announcements. Officiating boss Art McNally, wanted the officials to use this new technology very sparingly. In those intervening 38 years, the microphone has evolved into a critical communication and teaching tool, as shown by Gene
Officials can find fountain of youth on field
[Update: Because Tom Barnes was scheduled to officiate today's game, we carried this story despite the lack of a second source to confirm he was still active. A decision was made by the editor, based on other press commentary Barnes made regarding the collective bargaining process, that he was certain