There are a lot of things I know now that I wish I had known when I started officiating. One area involves my relations with players and coaches. Back then (early ‘70s), I was often too confrontational and took too much of a hard-nosed approach in dealing with them. I had swallowed the Kool-Aid that one got at professional baseball umpiring schools, one of which I attended in 1973. Players and coaches were called “rats” and were seen as the enemy, and I carries that over to football officiating. It was my way or the highway, as I wasn’t above letting people know, maybe from the middle of the football field and at the top decibel level. Add to that a stern look (some would say mad) and it’s a wonder I wasn’t involved in a war on a regular basis.
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