End of the First Quarter: 25 NFL officiating stories, Part 1

Art McNally is a Hall of Famer

In 2022, the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined its first and only game official, Art McNally, who officiated on the field for 9 seasons, but was most well-known for his 23-year tenure as the league’s supervisor of officials. (Here, his granddaughter Shannon O’Hara and former commissioner Paul Tagliabue pose with McNally’s Hall of Fame bust.)

Officials were considered in lists of nominees, but never survived the first cut. As such, the merits of debating any official in the Hall of Fame never made it to a selection phase. The halls of fame representing baseball, basketball, and hockey have at least 10 officials — each — enshrined. The first baseball umpire was enshrined in 1953, the first basketball referee in 1959, and the first hockey official in 1963.

“Art McNally belongs in the Hall of Fame,” former referee Ed Hochuli told Football Zebras in 2018, “because he quite frankly, set the standard of integrity — the most important characteristic of any official — for all NFL officials. Art was integrity personified, and spread that characteristic to every official who put on the NFL stripes for the next 22 years as supervisor of officials, and on to this day, as an assistant supervisor, consultant, and mentor. Every NFL official for the last 50 years has viewed Art McNally as the definition of integrity and the father of modern officiating in the NFL.”

McNally’s contributions to officiating include film study for officials, grading of each official on every play, weekly quizzes, and perhaps what he is most well-known for: instant replay. He tirelessly gave to the NFL officiating community for 58 of the league’s 105 years. That is more than half of NFL history.

McNally was not present at the enshrinement, but was able to wear his gold jacket. He died five months after his enshrinement at the age of 97.

Officiating through covid

2020 was looking like it was going to be known as the Year Without Football, as a raging pandemic of an airborne virus was not compatible with contact sports. As loved ones passed away alone and isolated and their remains were stored in refrigerated trucks for weeks, the entertainment of a football game seemed impossible.

The NFL developed plans with medical experts, which resulted in strict protocols. Distancing and isolation were enforced. Stadium seats remained empty as the games went on. There were a ton of rescheduled, re-rescheduled, and even re-re-rescheduled games to all seven days of the week, but every single game was played.

For officials, there were a lot of changes. All the crews were dismantled and a regional system was employed. Many officials switched to using digital whistles. The league allowed any official to opt-out of the season without penalty, and seven did so. Officials were expected to travel by car for up to 8 hours to reduce air travel. Vaccinations were mandatory. Testing was performed multiple times a week. Crews had to be quarantined (or hospitalized) and replaced with officials expecting to have the week off or working two games a week. They dressed for the game in their hotel rooms instead of the locker room. Contingencies were made if they had to reduce to 5 officials for a game that fortunately never had to be implemented. In the postseason, two officials were assigned to games and did not work them. It was the first time since Super Bowl I that an alternate official was assigned for every position — this time including an alternate side judge and replay official — who were assigned to a separate hotel and not allowed to be in the presence of each other until gameday.

It was hell. But everyone working together proved successful. While we were still surrounded by the realities of covid, football did provide some level of an escape for us all.

Deflategate

What generally is a mundane pregame activity was thrust into the spotlight. In the 2014 AFC Championship, the Colts alleged that the Patriots had deflated their game balls and presented an intercepted ball to alternate official Clete Blakeman as evidence.

Game balls are checked for proper inflation by the officiating crew in their locker room prior to the game. Football Operations leadership decided that the balls should be checked by the crew at halftime, and those that were outside of the required range of 12½ to 13½ psi were reinflated. No other action was taken during the game.

As the allegation became public, the NFL hired attorney Ted Wells to conduct an investigation into the matter. After interviewing several individuals, including officials from every crew that worked a Patriots home game that year, the results were published after 4 months. The release of the Wells Report was underwhelming as it didn’t satisfy fans on either side. The science and the inferences were shotty at best, and so it neither presented a slam dunk against the Patriots nor did it exonerate them. The official conclusion was that it was “more probable than not” that the Patriots ball handlers had deliberately deflated footballs and that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was “generally aware” this was being done. Brady eventually served a 4-game suspension, and the team was fined $1 million and docked first- and fourth-round draft choices.

What the report did reveal, officiating-wise, was that the chain of custody of the game balls was broken when Patriots attendants removed the game balls from the officials’ locker room before they were to be released to them. It also gave officiating watchers a behind-the-scenes look at the officials’ pregame duties to prepare for the game.

The NFL updated its procedures to ensure the ball supply is not compromised.

New milestones in longevity

An official who puts in 20 years of service can view it as an accomplishment. If an official can put in 30 years of experience, they are in rare company.

Since 2000, two officials have joined the “30 Club,” of officials who have called games for 30 years. In 2018, referee Walt Coleman joined the club, followed by line judge Jeff Bergman in 2022. Two more officials could join the 30 Club as early as next year.

Boris Cheek, who worked both deep wing positions — and worked two Super Bowls at each position — set the record for most NFL games worked, when Cheek surpassed Coleman in his 451st game.

Additionally, health and legal protections have allowed officials to call games when they are over age 60. Referee Ben Dreith successfully brought a case against the NFL for demoting him to line judge and then terminating him when he was 65. Only two officials have called games at age 70, and it happened in the last few years. Down judge Mike Spanier and referee Tony Corrente both celebrated their 70th birthdays while active NFL officials.

Concussion protocol

As the game and equipment evolved, the helmet became much more of a blunt-force weapon rather than a protective device. In the 1950s and 1960s, it would be crazy to lead with one’s helmet to initiate contact. The plastic was so thin and the padding woefully inadequate by today’s standards.

For football to advance in the 21st Century, the rules were being revised to be aware of concussions and spinal injury. ESPN quietly ended the Jacked Up segments of headhunting and bellringing hits at the end of the aughts. A defenseless player became a defined thing, and an array of unnecessary head contact was removed from the game. Strict concussion protocols were enacted, and there was the introduction of medical timeouts by trained professionals who assisted officials in removing potentially concussed players to be evaluated. “I’m fine,” was no longer an acceptable response.

The “keep your head in the game” mantra — emphasizing a tackler to see his target and not the ground — was taught all the way down to the pee-wee level, eradicating the poor techniques of deliberate forcible head contact by the future professional players.

Most significantly, the “use of the helmet” rule made it illegal to initiate contact by lowering the head. While there are gaps in the rule as written, it has changed tackling techniques. Those who chose not to adapt, are fined, then suspended, then suspended again, then disappeared. With the repeated infractions by Vontaze Burfict in this area, the unprecedented 12-game suspension theoretically could have saved his life.