Dick Hantak

Last updated

Dick Hantak
Born (1938-10-03) October 3, 1938 (age 86)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation NFL official (1978–2003)

Dick Hantak (born October 3, 1938) is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL). He was in the NFL for 25 years between 1978 and 2003. He began his NFL officiating career as a back judge and became a referee eight years later. During his career, he officiated in two Super Bowls, Super Bowl XVII in 1983 as a back judge and later as a referee in Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, both at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and selected as an alternate for Super Bowl XXXII in 1998. He was one of the first officials to wear a three-digit uniform number, wearing number 105 except for 1979–81, when officials were numbered separately by position.

Hantak was most notable for being involved in a game that would result in the elimination of the excessive crowd noise rule from the NFL because of the actions during an exhibition game preceding the 1989 NFL season between the Cincinnati Bengals and New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome. Prior to the snap to begin a play, Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason constantly complained to Hantak about the loud crowd noise inside of the dome and would embellish his reactions in protest over the newly created rule. Esiason would later admit that he was put up to the task by then head coach Sam Wyche. [1]

Hantak was also involved in a humorous incident during a 1996 game between Pittsburgh and Carolina. On a punt the ball landed in the endzone and the Carolina mascot Sir Purr downed it, unaware the ball was live. While Steelers coach Bill Cowher was laughing, Hantak told Sir Purr not to do it again. Hantak ended his distinguished officiating career with a playoff game on January 11, 2003, between the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets.

As of the 2006 NFL season, Hantak serves as an NFL replay official, working on-site in the video officiating booth.

Hantak is a 1960 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University and was a member of Sigma Tau Gamma. [2]

Hantak's brother, Bob, worked as a National League umpire during the 1979 Major League Baseball Umpires Association strike.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Bowl XXIII</span> 1989 Edition of the Super Bowl

Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1988 season. The 49ers defeated the Bengals 20–16, winning their third Super Bowl. The game was played on January 22, 1989, at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held at the Orange Bowl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boomer Esiason</span> American football player and commentator (born 1961)

Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins and was selected in the second round of the 1984 NFL draft by the Bengals, where he spent 10 non-consecutive seasons. Esiason was also a member of the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Official (gridiron football)</span> Game administrator in American football

In gridiron football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Hochuli</span> American football official and attorney (born 1950)

Edward G. Hochuli is an American retired attorney and former American football official. He served as an attorney at Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C. from 1983 to 2021, and was an official in the National Football League (NFL) from 1990 to 2017; his uniform number was 85. Before becoming a football official, he played college football for four seasons at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Morelli</span> American football official

Pete Morelli is a retired American football official who worked in the National Football League (NFL) from 1997 to 2018. He wore uniform number 135.

Walt Coleman III is a former American football official who officiated in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1989 season until the end of the 2018 season. He wore uniform number 65. During his final season in 2018, Coleman was the NFL's longest current tenured referee.

Jerry Markbreit is a former American football referee in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons and became one of the most recognizable referees in the game. Markbreit officiated football games for 33 seasons. From 1965 to 1975, Markbreit officiated college football games in the Big Ten Conference. He then joined the NFL in 1976 as a line judge on the crew of Tommy Bell before being promoted to the head referee position in just his second year. His uniform number in the league was 9, which is now worn by Mark Perlman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Carey (American football)</span> American football player and official (born 1949)

Michael Carey is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL). His uniform number was 94. Prior to his officiating career, he played college football as a running back for Santa Clara University.

Bill Leavy was an American football official who officiated in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1995 through 2014 seasons, wore uniform number 127, and was also a retired San Jose, California police officer and firefighter, serving for 27 years. In his twenty-year NFL officiating career, Leavy was assigned to fifteen playoff games, including two Super Bowls. He was selected as a back judge on the Super Bowl XXXIV officiating crew in 2000 and most recently headed up the Super Bowl XL officiating crew as referee in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Carollo</span> American football official (born 1951)

William F. Carollo is a former American football official who officiated National Football League (NFL) games from 1989 through 2008. He wore uniform number 63. Carollo officiated in two Super Bowls and eight conference championship games. After the 2008 season, he became the Coordinator of Football Officials for the Big Ten Conference and is currently Coordinator of Officials for the Collegiate Officiating Consortium (COC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry McAulay</span> American football official (born 1959)

Terry McAulay is a former American football official who worked in the National Football League (NFL) for the 1998 through 2017 seasons. He was the referee for seven conference championship games and three Super Bowls. He was the Coordinator of Football Officials for college football's Big East and subsequently the American Athletic Conference from 2008 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Anderson (American football)</span> American football referee (born 1952)

Walter John Anderson is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1996 NFL season to the 2019 NFL season. He wore uniform number 66. Anderson spent his first seven seasons in the NFL as a line judge before being promoted to referee for the start of the 2003 NFL season after Dick Hantak and Bob McElwee announced their retirements. He is notable for officiating Super Bowl XXXV. Anderson was also named as referee for Super Bowl XLV which was played on February 6, 2011, in Arlington, Texas, at Cowboys Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Green (American football official)</span> American football official (born 1951)

Scott H. Green is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1991 NFL season until the 2013 NFL season. He had officiated Super Bowls XXXVI in 2002, XXXVIII in 2004, and was the referee for XLIV in 2010. Green was also the head of the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) and led negotiations during the 2012 NFL referee lockout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Vinovich</span> American football official (born 1960)

Bill Vinovich III is an American professional football official in the National Football League (NFL) who has worked as an NFL referee from 2001 to 2006 and since 2012; he is also a college basketball official.

Eugene Joseph Steratore is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 2003 until his retirement from the NFL in June 2018. He also worked as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball referee from 1997 to 2018. Since the fall of 2018, Steratore has served as a rules analyst for CBS Sports, including the NFL, college football, college basketball, and March Madness.

Fred Silva was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons from 1968 to 1988. Silva was widely known for his coolness under fire on the football field and clapping his hand together when signaling a first down. The pinnacle of Silva's officiating career in the NFL was being assigned to Super Bowl XIV in 1980. On the field, Silva wore three different uniform numbers. In the 1968 and 1969, seasons, Silva wore uniform number 49, but changed to number 81 in 1970, which he wore until 1978. Finally, from 1979 until the end of his career in 1988, he wore the number 7.

John W. Parry is an American former football official who worked in the National Football League (NFL) from 2000 through the 2018 season. He wore uniform number 132 and was the referee for two Super Bowls. From 2019 through the 2023 season, Parry was the rules analyst for NFL telecasts on ABC and ESPN including Monday Night Football and postseason games.

Tommy Bell was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) and was regarded as "one of the NFL's most respected referees". When he joined the NFL as an official in 1962 from the Southeastern Conference, he was given the referee position, and stayed at that spot until his retirement in 1976. He officiated Super Bowl III in 1969 and Super Bowl VII in 1973. He is also the only official in history to referee in both a Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four (1959). He retired from the NFL following the 1976 AFC Championship Game between the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers, played December 26, 1976, to conclude a fifteen-year career in the league.

The 1988 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 21st year in professional football and its 19th with the National Football League (NFL).

Jack Douglas Vest was an American athlete, sports coach, and official. He was a 12-letter man at East Tennessee State University, winning honors in football, basketball, and baseball between 1946 and 1950. He is also to be found numerous times in the Buccaneer record book. He was an outstanding quarterback in football and averaged between 15-20 points per season in basketball. A gifted passer, Vest held the Buccaneer record for most passes completed in a single game for years. He was a member of the All-Decade 1940s team as a quarterback and figured prominently in some of the better teams fielded by coach Loyd T. Roberts. Vest is a member of the East Tennessee State Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

  1. ↑ Zimmerman, Paul (December 1, 2005). "Quiet please". Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
  2. ↑ "SIG TAU National Hall of Fame". Southeast Missouri State University. Archived from the original on September 4, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.