A gentleman named Burl Toler was hired as a full-time official by the NFL in 1965, making him the first Black official/referee in an American major sport. In 1980, the late Toler became the first Black official to work in a Super Bowl.
Good for the NFL. But why did it take 55 years for the NFL to stage a game with an all-Black officiating crew?
It finally took place during the Monday Night Football game between the Tampa Bay Bucs and L.A. Rams on Nov. 23.
The crew consisted of referee Jerome Boger, umpire Barry Anderson, side judge Anthony Jeffries, down judge Julian Mapp, line judge Carl Johnson, field judge Dale Shaw and back judge Greg Steed.
In the NFL setup, the referee is the person in charge of the crew and announces penalty calls to fans and the television audience.
Because of COVID-19 protocols, the crew members could not be interviewed following the game.
“I am humbled to stand on the shoulders of the Black officials who paved the way for me, “especially Johnny Grier, whose number 23 I wear today,” Boger said in an NFL video.
Grier became the league’s first referee in 1988 – almost a quarter of a century after Toler was hired.
Boger, Anderson, Mapp, Shaw and Jeffries often work on the same officiating crew. Johnson and Steed were included to round out the historic crew.
Of 17 NFL referees, four are Black, according to ESPN. This is a higher percentage (23.3 percent) than Black coaches and general managers in the NFL.
Boger became the third Black referee in NFL history after he was promoted in 2006 from line judge.
After Grier made history, another 20 years would pass before Mike Carey became the first Black referee to work the Super Bowl in 2008.
Troy Vincent, a Black former NFL star who is now the league’s executive vice president of football operations called the crew “a testament to the countless and immeasurable contributions of Black officials to the game.”
“(T)heir exemplary performance, and to the power of inclusion that is the hallmark of this great game.”
For the record, St. Louis’ own Robert “Bob” Beeks was a also pioneer NFL referee. In 1968, the League recruited Beeks. (The year before, the league had hired Toler in San Francisco as its first African-American official.)
As the line judge, Beeks was one of seven officials on the football field (six at the time he started in pro ball.) The job of the line judge and the head linesman on the opposite side of the field is to determine if any player violates the rules at the scrimmage line. He was chosen to officiate in five Super Bowl games.
Beeks, who was also a St. Louis police officer, died on his birthday, Dec. 26, 2012.
The Reid Roundup
After learning early Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19, Lewis Hamilton said he is “devastated” that he cannot race in Sunday’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain. “I’m gutted not to be able to race this weekend, but my priority is to follow the protocols and advice to protect others,” Hamilton wrote. Lewis, who said he is experiencing mild symptoms, tested negatively three times last week before he won the Bahrain Grand Prix last Sunday, which was held at the same race course as this week’s race. He was re-tested Monday. Hamilton secured his 7th Drivers Championship on Nov. 15 at the Turkish Grand Prix… Jason Tatum and the Boston Celtics will be without star guard Kemba Walker for the first few weeks of the NBA season that begins on Dec. 20. Walker received a stem cell injection in his ailing left knee in October and is now on a 12-week strengthening program… Candice Lee, the SEC’s lone Black female athletic director, dismissed her Black football Coach, Derek Mason, after the Commodores were thrashed 41-0 by Missouri and fell to 0-8 last Saturday… A month into the NFL season, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was a longshot to win the NFL MVP award. He now has his team at 10-1 and, after his dazzling performance in a 27-24 win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs in a nationally televised game last Sunday, he and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers are the favorites to win that prize…
Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest and is a New York Times contributor. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and appears monthly on “The Dave Glover Show” on 97.1 Talk.” His Twitter handle is #aareid1.
