Jerry Markbreit facts for kids

Jerry Markbreit (born March 23, 1935) is a famous former American football referee. He worked in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He became one of the most well-known referees in the sport.

Jerry Markbreit was a football official for 33 seasons in total. From 1965 to 1975, he worked college football games. These were part of the Big Ten Conference. In 1976, he joined the NFL as a line judge. He was promoted to head referee in his second year. His uniform number was 9.

During his 23 years in the NFL, Jerry Markbreit worked 25 playoff games. This included four Super Bowls. He is the only NFL head referee to have worked four Super Bowl games. After retiring in 1998, he wrote a sports column. It appeared weekly in the Chicago Tribune until 2008.

Jerry's Early Career as a Referee

Jerry Markbreit started officiating in 1953. He worked college fraternity games. He had tried to play football at the University of Illinois. But he almost got hurt badly several times.

He began officiating as a career in 1957. He joined the Central Officials Association. He started working public league and junior varsity games. By the late 1950s, Markbreit was officiating high school games. He even worked some games with a young Dick Butkus.

Officiating in College Football

Jerry Markbreit worked his first Big Ten game on September 25, 1965. He was a back judge for the game between Northwestern and Indiana. In 1966, he became a full-time back judge in the Big Ten. He was promoted to referee in 1968. This happened after he took charge of a game in 1967.

He was the back judge for the "Game of the Century" on November 19, 1966. This was a famous game between top-ranked Notre Dame and second-ranked Michigan State. It ended in a 10–10 tie. He was also the referee for the 1969 Ohio State vs. Michigan football game. Michigan won that game 24-12. He also refereed the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 1972. Stanford beat Michigan 13–12 in that game.

In 1968, the NFL offered Markbreit a job as a field judge. But he turned it down. He felt he didn't have enough college experience. He thought this would stop him from becoming an NFL referee.

Famous College Game Moments

Jerry Markbreit officiated a big Michigan-Ohio State rivalry game on November 20, 1971. Near the end of the game, Ohio State coach Woody Hayes got very angry. He thought a foul was missed. He stormed onto the field and yelled at Markbreit. He even threw the penalty flag into the crowd. Hayes was suspended for one game and fined $1,000.

Right after this, Markbreit ejected Ohio State player Randy Gradishar. This was for punching a Michigan player. It caused a 10-minute fight. Markbreit did not officiate the Ohio State-Michigan game again until 1975. That was his last game as a Big Ten official.

Joining the NFL and Key Moments

Jerry Markbreit joined the NFL as a line judge in 1976. He became a referee in 1977. This happened after referee Tommy Bell retired. Bell had been Markbreit's crew chief in 1976. Markbreit retired from officiating after a playoff game on January 9, 1999.

He officiated the famous "Holy Roller" play on September 10, 1978. This was a game-winning play for the Oakland Raiders. With 10 seconds left, the Raiders' quarterback fumbled the ball. It rolled towards the goal line. A Raiders player then batted and kicked the ball into the end zone. He fell on it for a touchdown. The Raiders won. Markbreit ruled it a fumble, and the league agreed. A new rule was made because of this play. It's still called the "Markbreit rule" by NFL officials.

In November 1986, Markbreit was the referee when the Green Bay Packers played the Chicago Bears. He ejected Packers player Charles Martin. Martin had slammed Bears quarterback Jim McMahon to the ground. This was Markbreit's first ejection as an NFL official. Martin was suspended for two games. This was the longest suspension for an on-field incident at that time.

Markbreit later said that Martin's hit was so far outside the rules of the game. He felt ejection was the only choice. This decision set an important example. Any very violent act not part of the game could lead to an ejection. Many people said this call helped Markbreit get chosen to referee Super Bowl XXI two months later.

Jerry Markbreit also refereed Super Bowl XVII. During the coin toss, he got a bit confused. Both sides of the coin looked very similar. He first called "heads" but then quickly corrected it to "tails."

After retiring as an active official, Markbreit stayed involved with the NFL. He worked as an instant replay official for two years. Later, he was a supervisor and head trainer for NFL referees.

Books by Jerry Markbreit

• The Armchair Referee—500 Questions and Answers about Football (ISBN: 0-385-08089-1)
• Born to Referee: My Life on the Gridiron (ISBN: 0-688-07938-5)
• Last Call: Memoirs of an NFL Referee (ISBN: 1-58382-030-2)

Jerry's Thoughts on Officiating

• "There's no such thing as perfection. Mistakes happen. Officials are so hard on themselves. When they make a mistake, nobody feels worse than they do."
• "I had several big-time mistakes. I felt at the time that it happened, 'Why am I here?' You're heartsick about a call that you made. You want everything to be perfect. But it's not a perfect science. There's nothing perfect."
• "I'm probably the only Jewish man who knows the Catholic mass by heart, both in English and Latin.” Markbreit wrote in his book that he went to Catholic mass before every game. He did this out of respect for a fellow official, Tom Kelleher.

See also

• List of Jews in sports (non-players)