Jim Tunney (born March 3, 1929) is a former
American football official
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 ...
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 1960 to 1990. In his 31 years as an NFL official, Tunney received a record 29 post-season assignments, including ten Championship games and
Super Bowls
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 ...
VI,
XI, and
XII and named as an alternate in
Super Bowl XVIII
Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference ( ...
. He is still the only referee who has worked consecutive Super Bowls, and likely will be the only one to do so.
Following
Ben Dreith
Ben Dreith (February 1, 1925April 25, 2021) was an American professional football on-field official who worked from 1960 to 1969 in the American Football League (AFL) and from 1970 to 1990 in the NFL. Prior to his teaching and officiating career, ...
's death in April 2021, Tunney is the only referee from the first 16 Super Bowls who is still alive.
Life and career
Nicknamed the "Dean of NFL Referees", Tunney was the first official to be named to the "
All-Madden Team
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight playo ...
" in 1990 and won the "Gold Whistle Award" in 1992 from the
National Association of Sports Officials
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
(NASO). He wore uniform number 32 for most of his career, but when the NFL numbered each position separately from 1979 through 1981 rather than assigning one number per official, he wore number 3. Tunney's trademark signal upon a successful field goal, or extra point, featured raising his arms with fists clenched, then opening both fists simultaneously to indicate the attempt as "good".
Officials who worked on Tunney's crew for many years included former NFL great
Pat Harder
Marlin Martin “Pat” Harder (May 6, 1922 – September 6, 1992) was an American football player, playing fullback (American football), fullback and Kicker (american football), kicker. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in ...
at umpire and head linesman
Burl Toler
Burl Abron Toler Sr. (May 9, 1928 – August 16, 2009) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) for 25 seasons from 1965 NFL season, 1965 to 1989 NFL season, 1989. He served as a field judge and head linesman through ...
, the NFL's first African-American official.
Tunney graduated from Franklin High School in Los Angeles class of 1947 then after he graduated from nearby
Occidental College in 1951, Tunney starting officiating
football and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
working high school, college, and
Pacific Coast Conference (Pac-10) games until 1967. In 1960, he was hired to work in the NFL as a field judge before being promoted to the referee position in
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
where he would stay for the remainder of his career until retiring after the
1990 NFL season
The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League. To increase revenue, the league, for the first time since , reinstated bye weeks, so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period. ...
. His final game was the 1990
AFC Championship Game between the
Buffalo Bills and
Los Angeles Raiders
The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...
played January 20, 1991. He currently works on the NFL officiating staff as an Observer, attending games each week helping with improvement of the current game officials.
Still active in league affairs and many sports issues, Tunney was a member of
Commissioner Tagliabue's Officiating 2000 Committee, and was Vice Chair of the
U.S. Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
for Northern
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
(
Sydney 2000 Games). In 1993, he founded th
Jim Tunney Youth Foundation which supports community programs and resources that work with youth to develop leadership, work skills, wellness, and self-esteem. He writes a weekly column for the ''
Monterey Herald
''The Monterey County Herald'', sometimes referred to as the ''Monterey Herald'', is a daily newspaper published in Monterey, California that serves Monterey County.
In December, 2013, the Herald's parent company Media News Group merged to become ...
'' and is a motivational speaker.
Jim Tunney was the Boys' Vice Principal at Abraham Lincoln High School in the City of Los Angeles, California. He was also the Principal of Fairfax High School, in Los Angeles, from 1964 to 1970.
Memorable games
Here is a listing of some notable games Tunney was involved in:
*"
The Field Goal" - Baltimore at Green Bay (December 26, 1965) - field judge
*"
The Ice Bowl" - Dallas at Green Bay (December 31, 1967) - alternate referee
*"
The Kick" - Detroit at New Orleans (November 8, 1970)
*
1979 AFC championship game - Houston at Pittsburgh (January 6, 1980) (In this game, Oilers wide 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 ...
was ruled to have been out of bounds on an apparent touchdown pass from
Dan Pastorini
Dante Anthony Pastorini (born May 26, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. He played college football at Santa Clara University and wa ...
late in the third quarter that would have tied the game. Replays showed that Renfro got both feet down inbounds, but Houston had to settle for a field goal.)
*"
The Catch The Catch may refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Catch'' (U.S. TV series), 2016-2017 American mystery television series
* ''The Catch'' (UK TV series), 2023 British family drama television series
* ''The Catch'' (1961 film), 1961 film by Nagisa ...
" - Dallas at San Francisco (January 10, 1982)
*"The 100th Game" - Green Bay at Chicago (November 20, 1983)
*"
The Snowball Game" - San Francisco at Denver (November 11, 1985)
*"
The Fumble
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
" - Cleveland at Denver (January 17, 1988)
*"
The Fog Bowl" - Philadelphia at Chicago (December 31, 1988)
Other game notes
* Tunney is the last referee to conduct the coin toss for the Super Bowl, and was also the first referee to supervise a coin toss conducted by a special guest. Prior to
Super Bowl XII,
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
running back
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...
tossed the coin at the
Louisiana Superdome
The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
.
* During the 1987 AFC Championship game, two legendary referees were on the field when
Earnest Byner
Earnest Alexander Byner (born September 15, 1962) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He is now the running back coach of Out-of-Door Academy.
Playing career East Carolina University (1980–83 ...
fumbled near the goal line late in the contest. Alternate referee
Jerry Seeman
Jerry T. Seeman (March 11, 1936 − November 24, 2013) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 1975 to 1990 and was the NFL's Senior Director of Officiating from 1991 to 2001, succeeding Art McNally. In his 1 ...
was forced to take over at field judge (now back judge) when Dick Dolack, the regular field judge who was also a long-time member of Tunney's regular season crew, pulled his hamstring on a long touchdown pass from
John Elway to
Mark Jackson. Seeman gave the initial signal that Denver's
Jeremiah Castille
Jeremiah Castille ( ; born January 15, 1961 in Columbus, Georgia) is a former American professional football cornerback from the University of Alabama, Castille was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1983 NFL Draft. He ...
recovered Byner's fumble.
* Tunney would indicate a successful field goal or PAT by raising both arms with fists clenched, followed by unclenching his fists and extending all ten fingers upward.
*Tunney worked as the referee for the first 18 editions of Battle of the Network Stars.
*As of 2021, Tunney is the only referee from the
1970 season, the first following the
AFL-NFL merger, still living.
Educator
Off the field, Tunney has had a long career as an educator and school administrator,
Jim Tunney, motivational speaker, leadership skills and team building
/ref> starting out in 1951 as a teacher at Los Angeles' Lincoln High School, later becoming vice principal from 1959 to 1964. He then served as a principal of Los Angeles high schools Fairfax (1964–1970), Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
(1972–1973), and Hollywood High School (1973–74). He became assistant superintendent of secondary education for the Bellflower Unified School District in 1975 and served as the district's superintendent in 1977. He left education for 16 years before becoming headmaster from 1993 to 1994 of the York School in Monterey, California, joining the school's board of trustees in 1995 and remaining in that post to this day. He also joined the board of trustees for Monterey Peninsula College
Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) is a public community college in Monterey, California. Established in 1947, it is a part of the California Community Colleges system. There are two additional MPC campuses located in Marina, CA, and Seaside, ...
in 1997 and served on that board until 2009 (12 years - 6 of which were as board chair. He was awarded MPC's President's Award in 2009 - only the third so named as well as 2009 Public Official of the Year by the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. In 2011, he was inducted into the Fairfax High School Hall of Fame (the only administrator so inducted). In 2011, he was also inducted into the California Community Coaches Hall of Fame.
Books by Tunney
*''Impartial Judgment: "The Dean of NFL Referees" Calls Pro Football As He Sees It'', 1988 ()
*''Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan's Soul'', 2000 ()
*''It's The Will, Not The Skill'', 2004 ()
* "101 Best of Tunney Side of Sports" 2014 ()
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunney, Jim
1929 births
Living people
National Football League officials
Occidental Tigers football players
People from the San Gabriel Valley
20th-century American educators
University of Southern California alumni
20th-century American writers