Donald C. Orr 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 ...

player and

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

. He was born in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Florida.

Vanderbilt University

Orr was a prominent

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Vanderbilt Commodores football The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Divis ...

teams of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

1955

Orr led Vanderbilt to its first bowl victory by defeating

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

25 to 13 in the

1955 Gator Bowl The 1955 Gator Bowl, part of the 1955 bowl game season, was the eleventh annual contest and took place on December 31, 1955, at the Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. The competing teams were the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Auburn Ti ...

. He was selected Vanderbilt's MVP of the game, and received a standing ovation upon getting the award. Vandy's first two scores were a pass Orr to Joe Stephenson and a run by Orr respectively.

NFL draft

He was drafted by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in 26th round of the 1956 NFL Draft; but he never talked to the team.

Official

Orr was a prominent

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)

for 25 seasons, from 1971 through 1995, serving as a field judge in three

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

s. He wore uniform number 77 for the majority of his NFL career. As a side judge in the 1979 AFC Championship Game between the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

and the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, Orr made a controversial incomplete pass call denying Oilers receiver

Mike Renfro Michael Ray Renfro (born June 19, 1955) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Texas Christian University. Early years Renfro a ...

an apparent game-tying touchdown late in the third quarter. The Oilers subsequently settled for a field goal and went on to lose 27–13. The controversy prompted calls for the NFL to institute

replay review A replay review is a form of user-generated content. In most instances, a replay review is a review of an RTS video game game replay of a lesser player by a more experience, talented player. Replay reviews are used to increase the skill of the orig ...

Contracting

Orr is recently chairman of the board of Nashville Machine Co., a mechanical contracting company.

References

Possibly living people American football quarterbacks National Football League officials Vanderbilt Commodores football players {{collegefootball-player-stub