| Tom Dooley |
| Interview, June 1991 |
| Referee: During the 1989 season, you had two controversial situations. In one, a group of Cleveland Browns’ fans disrupted the game so much that you moved play from one end of the field to the other. Tell us about that. Dooley: Obviously you’re talking about the "dog pound" situation late in the game, when Denver had the ball at the end of the field near that group of Cleveland fans. We moved the teams to the other end of the field so Denver wouldn’t be subjected to the dog bones, batteries, rocks and eggs that were thrown onto the field. __It was a good, tight game and meant a lot to both teams. There was a crosswind blowing so there was no real advantage to either team so far as the wind was concerned. Denver was backed up near their own end zone on about the three or four yardline. Elway (Denver QB, John Elway) went back into the huddle and an egg came down and exploded on the face of a Denver offensive lineman. Referee: What did you do then? Dooley: I called timeout and told that player to get himself cleaned up. There was no excuse for that egg-throwing incident, although it’s kind of a custom there to throw small dog bones onto the field. I’d grown accustomed to it. __While the Denver player was cleaning up, we took a TV timeout. During the commercial, I walked behind the Denver players and told John Elway to go ahead, get his player cleaned up and take as much time as he wanted. As I was standing near the Denver players, who were in their huddle, it dawned on me that what those Cleveland fans were doing was not fair to the game, to either team. Referee: How close to the field were those fans? Dooley: There are probably only 10 yards that separate the fans from the field, so they’re right on top of you. Had it been only an isolated egg thrown I could have understood, but as I stood back there the crowd calmed down and started to throw balls of paper that floated down. Then one of those little double-A batteries hit me on the head, kind of stung me. __When we came back from the commercial, I gave the ready-for-play signal. As Denver huddled, a rock, in excess of an inch and a half or so, hit the ground nearby. Then another battery hit the ground, then two eggs went flying into the huddle and hit players. That’s when I stopped the game and told John Elway to take his team to the other end of the field, that we were turning around. I was not going to subject Denver to that abuse. Once we moved to the other end, it became a routine game. At the end, Cleveland kicked a field goal to win. Referee: Were you criticized for the way you handled that situation? Dooley: There was no criticism from supervisor Art McNally, who was at that game. Of course, some of the media had a field day with it and some of the people in Denver were upset. Referee: How were you critiqued on that play? Dooley: The league said we had a decent game. They were not upset at all about moving the teams. In fact, they thought we handled it well. They grade from seven (tops) to one on each call and no-call. We got a seven on that particular call. In 1989, we had lots of tight games in which one team or the other won right near the end. Referee: Included was Chicago at Green Bay, in which a key play occurred with just a few seconds left. Dooley: Right near the end of that game there was a penalty called on a play in which Green Bay scored (to tie the game) on a (Don Majkowski) touchdown pass. (Majkowski) was called for being across the line when he threw that pass, which would have nullified the touchdown and given the ball and the game to Chicago, because it was a fourth-down play and the penalty included loss of down. The penalty call, made by line judge Jim Quirk, was reversed by the replay official, Bill Parkinson, who said the ball was not across the line, when it was released. The touchdown was allowed, Green Bay (kicked the extra point and) won, 14-13. Referee: Wasn’t Quirk on the side of the field opposite to where Majkowski threw the ball, which was right next to the sideline? Dooley: Jimmy was looking all the way across the field and in his opinion Majkowski had the ball across the line when he threw it. It was a close play. I think they might have looked at 10 million rolls of film to see if in fact the ball was across the line. It was tough to prove or disprove. Referee: If it was so close, why was the flag thrown and then why was the call overruled? Dooley: That’s just the way two people interpreted what they saw. Referee: What was said later when the play was reviewed by the league? Dooley: They weren’t real happy with his (Parkinson’s) performance on that particular play. Referee: The 1989 season was Parkinson’s last as a replay official. Was there a connection between that overrule and him not coming back? Dooley: I don’t think so. The league is good about not having one play affect a career. They’re looking for trends, and they keep records on every game official, observer and replay official. Referee: In your early days in the NFL, who helped to shape your officiating philosophy? Dooley: In high school, college and the pros I’ve been lucky to have been taken under the wings of some veteran officials, people in the pros such as Ed Marion and Stan Javie, who instilled in me the philosophy of being in the right place at the right time. Those guys gave me the history of the rules too. I think the history of a rule is more important than the rule itself because if you know why a rule was made, you can accurately adopt a philosophy so one team can’t take advantage of another team. Referee: What was the worst call you ever made? Dooley: It happened when I was a rookie and involved Minnesota when Fran Tarkenton played and Bud Grant was the coach. We had a play in which a receiver came out, caught a pass and it was very close to a first down. I was right in front of the Minnesota bench and I grabbed the ball and put it on the ground as people around me were yelling at me. __All of a sudden, an official’s foot came in and stomped right in front of me. He said, "The ball belongs up here." I looked up and it was Ed Marion, who came all the way across the fild. Without thinking, I’d taken the ball and moved it up. Veteran officials are not going to come all the way across the field to tell you something unless you’re wrong. I learned from that experience. Referee: In what ways are you different from most other NFL referee? Dooley: Probably the thing that sets me apart from other referees is I don’t have that many flags. A lot of referees will have 40, 50, 60 flags a season; I might have only eight or 10. The reason is that if I call a foul, it’s there. I tend to look at things longer to make sure a foul is there. As a result, my fouls are down. Referee: What’s the NFL’s philosophy on that? Dooley: They work hard to make sure that the calls we have are there. If we’re going to err, err by making a no-call. We all make poor calls, don’t put down the rag or we call back plays for fouls that aren’t there. My philosophy is that if you are going to err on a foul, then you need to err on the side of not calling the foul. Referee: How do you feel about the way replays have been used? Dooley: What’s wrong with being wrong? If instant replay can make corrections, I see no disadvantage using it. I can see a disadvantage if an official waits to make a call because he wants help from instant replay. Somebody, rather than sticking out his neck, might say, "Well, replay will correct it if it needs to be corrected." That could be creeping into the younger officials and we veterans have to work to overcome that. We’ve got to operate as a team and we must call the game out on the field ourselves and let replay correct us. It’s important to the integrity of the game that we react instantly and administer what we’ve seen. Referee: You’re a leader both on and off the field. What philosophies apply to both of your jobs? Dooley: You have to depend on people and bring out their talents so they can lead too. You need to have a pyramid of leaders under you. With my company, I’d never hire anybody who’s not smarter than I am and who does not have more talent than I do. I want that person out there on the firing line representing me as if he were me. I feel the same way about officiating. I just happen to be the guy who has to fill out the paperwork and send it back to the league. Every man on the crew is a leader. Referee: If you could alter anything about the NFL’s officiating system, what would you change? Dooley: I’d change the grading system, which is too dependent upon fouls called or not called. I think doing the job is a lot more than just making calls and no-calls. There’s not much weight given to proper mechanics, not much weight given to intangibles such as a veteran helping out a younger official before, during and after a game, like Marion and Javie did for me. Referee: From 1-10 (10 tops), how do you rate yourself as an NFL official? Dooley: Probably a 5. I don’t think there are perfect people. When I stay at a hotel and they have a card to rate things, I never rate anything as excellent. I’ve never seen a single thing that couldn’t be improved on in some way. So I think I’m just in the middle of a bunch of great officials. Referee: How much longer do you want to work in the NFL? Dooley: Until I’m 60, but only if I’m in good physical condition and can still do the job. It’s a young man’s game. The players are bigger and faster. When you can’t do the job you have to step aside. When you’re at the pinnacle and you start to slide down the other side, that’s when you need to make a change. When I start to slide, when it’s not fun, I’ll quit. Referee: We understand that Nancy, your wife, has ovarian cancer. How has that affected you? Dooley: It’s devastating, there’s no other way to describe it. My lifestyle has changed in the last four or five years since she developed cancer. For the first time, I’ve seen birds and flowers. I’ve realized there’s more to life than officiating and work. About five years ago they told me she wouldn’t be living in six months. Now we’re four years and six months to the good. Plus, her cancer recently went into remission, so we’re doing great. Referee: How are you dealing with it? Dooley: It’s the first time in my life I’ve been faced with something, which I have absolutely no control. I can’t say, "Hold it a minute," I can’t make a call. I can’t toss somebody or pay money to put it off. It’s just there. This is the first time it really hit me that we don’t control our destinies; somebody else controls that. There’s nothing you can do about it except to pray, asking for help. |