Official (American Football)
In American football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.
During professional and college football games, seven officials operate on the field. Arena football, high school football, and other levels of football have other officiating systems.
Football officials are commonly referred to as referees, but each position has specific duties and a specific name: referee, umpire, head linesman, line judge, back judge, side judge, and field judge. Because the referee is responsible for the general supervision of the game, the position is sometimes referred to as head referee.
Read more about Official (American Football): Equipment, Uniform, Officiating Systems, Positions and Responsibilities, History
Famous quotes containing the word official:
“Our medieval historians who prefer to rely as much as possible on official documents because the chronicles are unreliable, fall thereby into an occasionally dangerous error. The documents tell us little about the difference in tone which separates us from those times; they let us forget the fervent pathos of medieval life.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)