Leonard Charles "Cal" Lepore (April 15, 1919 – December 7, 2002) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

head linesman In gridiron football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. During professional and most college football games, seven officials operate on the field. Since 2015, Division ...

, line judge and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. He officiated in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) from 1966 through 1969, and then in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 1970 through 1980. He worked as the line judge in

Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...

, won by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

over the Baltimore Colts, after the 1968 season. He was the alternate referee for Super Bowl XII and the replay official in

Super Bowl XXVI Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. Lepore wore no. 72 for most of his NFL career (he wore no. 5 in his final two seasons, when each position was numbered separately). He was the supervisor of officials in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) and the World League of American Football, later named

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. Lepore is credited with promulgating the use of

instant replay Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live. The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...

as an officiating tool, as well as urging the use of coaches' challenges in professional football. The NFL adopted nearly all of the components of the Replay Rule he authored and first administered in mid-1980s in the USFL. ''Referee Magazine'' has considered him one of the most influential officials in the history of sports. Lepore was also the referee of the "

Miracle at the Meadowlands The Miracle at the Meadowlands was a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards of the Philadelphia Eagles that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978, National Football League (NFL) game against the New York Giants in Gi ...

" on November 19, 1978. Lepore was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and attended Harper High School there. He then played

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

; his 1940 draft registration card listed his employer as the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, and

Baseball-Reference.com Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

has record of him playing for the minor league Jonesboro White Sox during the 1941 season as a second baseman. Lepore served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during World War II. He was married and was survived by his wife and three children.

References

External links

Obituary

Cal Lepore discussing instant replay in 1985
via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepore, Cal 1919 births 2002 deaths Sportspeople from Chicago American Football League officials National Football League officials United States Army personnel of World War II Jonesboro White Sox players Baseball second basemen Burials in Illinois

See also

References

External links