| Joe Crawford
Former NBA referee •The four-year IRS investigation |
| “The only time in the four-year process that I felt good is when I was reffing. Other than that, it was constantly on my mind.” |
| As of presstime, 10 current or former NBA referees have been charged with filing false income tax returns. All have either resigned their positions or are on leave pending the outcome of their investigations. Former NBA referee Joe Crawford, who pleaded guilty in July to filing false income tax returns, will face sentencing Oct. 2. In this exclusive interview, Crawford discusses how the four-year investigation has taken its toll on him. Referee: How did you first hear about the investigation? Crawford: The revenue agents actually knocked on my door at home. They wanted to talk to me about the plane ticket situation. They wanted to know about different specifics of what I did with the airline moneys as an NBA employee for the years 1989-93. They asked if they could talk to me and I let them in. We sat down and discussed the airline situation and what I did — specifics. It was totally out of the blue. When you are not a criminal you don’t expect something like that. I let them in, started talking and made some monumental mistakes. Referee: What kind of mistakes? Crawford: I just should have said, “See you later,” and gone and got an attorney. Instead, we started talking about specifics and they used that stuff against me later. I made the mistake of making money on my airline tickets and not putting it on my W2. That’s the case in a nutshell. Referee: What happened next? Crawford: They started investigating and they subpoena everything you have. They can do whatever they want to do. They checked everything that I ever had — every bank, every checking account. I never thought it was a crime. Referee: When did the realization that this was criminal hit you? Crawford: At the end of the investigation they deem whether the case is civil, which means you can just go in and pay your money, or they deem it criminal. They deemed what I did criminal on the basis that I submitted receipts to my employer. I should have just made the money, put it on my W2 and gone about my business. Did I think it was criminal? No. If I thought it was criminal, I would never in a million years have done that to my family and myself. Referee: Why did you do it? Crawford: In our collective bargaining agreement, it reads that we can make money on our plane tickets. I made the mistake of not putting it on my W2. If the government deems me to be a criminal — and I’ve already pleaded guilty to the charges — then so be it. I’ve already paid around $90,000 in legal fees. If I would have taken it to court to fight them, I would have paid another $150,000 in legal fees. If I lost the case, the $150,000 is out the window and I would go to prison. It’s like rolling the dice. I have two kids that I still have to educate. I want to take that $150,000 and educate those kids. I would rather bet my money on (NBA commissioner) David Stern than go to court. Referee: What do you mean? Crawford: I’m hoping David Stern shows compassion to me and my fellow officials, and I’m hoping he allows us the opportunity to referee again. Referee: What was going through your mind through the course of the investigation? Crawford: I was in a constant state of — I don’t know how the hell to say it — I guess the word is fear. The only time in the four-year process that I felt good is when I was reffing. Other than that, it was constantly on my mind. I went to bed with it on my mind, I woke up with it on my mind. It took them two years to notify me whether my case was criminal or civil. Then it took them another two years to decide what they were going to do. The process was absurd. It was long, tedious; it worked on my mind. It worked on my family’s mind. To be real honest with you, I’m glad it’s over. I shouldn’t say it’s over. That’s probably the wrong thing. It’s over the day I walk back on the floor. If I never referee again, it will not be over. I will die with that on my head. I now have this next hurdle, October 2, when I have to go in front of the judge, which is going to be a very difficult day. I just have to hope that my employer brings me back. ___Refereeing is my life and I’ve wanted to do it ever since I was 13 years old. When you get something like that taken away from you, it hurts. It was a mistake and I don’t think I am a criminal. I know what kind of person I am and most of the people in the league know what kind of person I am. I’m banking on the commissioner giving us our jobs back. Referee: What was your reaction when you found out they were going to pursue it criminally? Crawford: That was one of the worst days of my life. The next-worst day of my life was the day that I actually had to plead. My family was in the courtroom. That was bad. The third-worst day is coming October 2. Hopefully there will be good results from that. I have cooperated and I pleaded guilty and I told them I am not going to pursue it anymore. I’m just hoping the judge shows mercy on me. He’s getting letters and things like that from different people in the community saying what type of guy I am. I hope it works to my advantage. After that, I hope the commissioner gives us our jobs back. I have ups and downs. Every day is different. I just try to keep myself occupied, but it’s that dull pain that’s there all the time. I know that day is coming. It has been this way for four years. Like I said, it’s not going to be over until I walk on the floor and I hope that happens. Referee: What if it doesn’t, Joe? Crawford: What if it doesn’t? (pause) Then I am going to have to live with this for the rest of my life. I’m going to have to get a job and I’m going to have to go on with my life. It’s not going to be what I want, because I want to be on the floor. It’s tough for me to envision not being a part of refereeing because it has been a part of my life since I was born. It’s very difficult. Referee: How has the scandal affected your personal life? What kind of impact has it had on your family and friends? Crawford: They are very upset. I didn’t steal from a bank and I didn’t steal from the needy. The people I stole from were my wife and kids. That’s what upsets me more than anything. I put them through this. I put them through the mental torture and the financial burden of this and that to me is the toughest part. ___I have had some people who don’t know what to say to me. It’s like you have cancer and they don’t know what to say to you, but most of the people in the community, my family, friends and relatives have been phenomenal. I have gotten more than 200 letters, phone calls, all kinds of things from family and friends and it is amazing the compassion that people have when you go through something like this. It really is amazing. You’ve just got to fight through it. That’s all you can do. Referee: Can a person be a convicted felon and still have the integrity to be a good referee? Crawford: Absolutely. There are different types of convicted felons. You are not talking about a child molester here or a murderer; it’s absurd. I wish I could have just paid the money back. I’d pay whatever they want, but the government doesn’t work that way. I had to accept the system the way it is and I had to go about my business. I have to hope that the judge shows compassion and gives me a light sentence and I have to hope David Stern gives me my job back. That’s really it in a nutshell. ___I am not going to worry about what fans think because if their team is losing and I just made a call against them, they call me every name in the book as it is, so they might as well add one to it. I have enough integrity that I don’t worry about stuff like that. Did I make a mistake and not put those dollars on my W2? Yes. I have already admitted that. I have admitted it in a court of law. But I am not a cheating referee. David Stern knows that and the coaches and players in this league know it. I am the same person. The IRS knocked on my door one day and now four years later I’m the convicted felon, but I’m the same person, the same guy. I am not going to do anything to jeopardize the integrity of the game. I would never do that in a million years. Referee: Do you think the scandal has jeopardized the general perception of the integrity of all officials? Crawford: A moron would think that, but most morons think we cheat anyway, that we cheat for the home team, that we cheat for the superstar. That’s all bulls---. It has always been bulls---. In every clinic I go to I say, “You have to stop listening to broadcasters; you have to stop listening to all that s---. We do not cheat.” Many aren’t going to believe it. They think we cheat anyway. That’s from the beginning of time. Referee: Was the tax situation ever a topic of conversation with the other referees in the lockerroom? Crawford: No. Maybe at lunch or something like that, but business was business. You’d say, “Listen, we are not talking about that s---” in the room because the game is the game. In our crew through those four years, I can’t remember a time that we actually did talk about it. I am not saying that we didn’t talk about it at lunch, but I can’t remember a time we talked about it in the dressing room. Referee: Did it affect your officiating? Crawford: Some of our younger guys have been affected because I may have been too preoccupied. Maybe I didn’t give those younger referees some information after a game. Something may have happened in a game and I saw it and said, “I want to talk about that after the game.” But you get in the lockerroom and all of a sudden that freaking head of yours goes right back to that IRS thing. You get back to the hotel and you’re watching the game tape and your head is on that freaking case. In normal situations you’re talking refereeing and you’re thinking refereeing 24 hours a day. Some of the younger guys have suffered because I may not have been able to help them with a certain play. It really p----- me off. Referee: Did it ever enter your head during a ballgame? Crawford: I worked so freaking hard at that aspect of just going out on the freaking floor and saying, “Joe, work the (damn) game. Joe, work the (damn) game. Joe, work the (damn) game.” That’s what I kept saying to myself. Can I honestly say that it didn’t enter my head? No I can’t. Referee: Were you as good a referee the last four years as you were before that? Crawford: Yes. It made me concentrate better. I kept saying to myself, “The game, the game, the game.” In those four years I could have been in a little better shape. I always like to ride the bike the day of the game and then work the game but I was getting away from that. Hopefully when I get back, I will be able to get back into the swing of things. Referee: Did you know going into the NBA Finals last season that those were going to be your last games? Crawford: Yes. Referee: What were you thinking during those games? Crawford: I worked game two and game five. It was almost like I was saying, “Boy, I hope there’s a seventh game,” because I think I had a crack at the seventh game. With me, it’s like the season’s over a week and I want to work again. That’s my problem. This is extremely difficult for me. For me to miss any time is extremely difficult. Referee: What was going through your mind as you walked off the court after game five? Crawford: I’m thinking, “I hope David Stern is a compassionate guy.” I’d start wondering, “Is it the last time I’m going to be at this hotel?” All the weird little stuff. Putting on my shoes … just weird stuff that I never thought I’d think about until I got to my late 50s when I was going to think about hanging them up. It wasn’t a great feeling, to be real honest with you. I was angry. I go through different things. I am angry at myself for being a moron. I have never been one to point fingers, I’m the one that did it. If I screw up a play, I screwed the play up. It wasn’t my partner’s fault. I am angry at myself. I am not angry at anybody else; I am not angry at the government; I am not angry at the lawyer; I am not angry at the judge. I’m angry at myself. I did it and it’s a mistake that I made, a big mistake. I just hope that it can be rectified. |
| “The only time in the four-year process that I felt good is when I was reffing. Other than that, it was constantly on my mind.” |
| BIO:
AGE, HOMETOWN, FAMILY: Born Aug. 30, 1951, in Philadelphia; since 1976 has lived in Havertown, Pa. Married to Mary since March 3, 1971; three children: Amy, 23; Megan, 20, and Erin, 18. Son of retired major league umpire Shag Crawford and brother of current major league umpire Jerry Crawford. |