Mark Baltz (born February 20, 1948) is a former

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 ...

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 1989 through 2013. He has worked as a head linesman throughout his entire career in the NFL and has been assigned to 21 post-season games, including five conference championship games (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004). He wore uniform number 26. Baltz is a native of

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, in the south-central part of the state. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 40,552. The city is near the Hocking River, about southeast of Columbus and southwest of Zanesville. It is ...

, and a graduate of

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

, where he began his officiating career in 1967, while attending college, working both

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

games until 1970. Baltz begins his 48th season in 2014–15. In 1971, Mark moved to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and continued to officiate football and basketball games at the high school level where he worked two state championship games in football (1978 and 1983) before moving to the major college level in 1984. He officiated Boy's high school basketball for 45 seasons ending that career in 2011–12. He worked three state championship games in 1999, 2003 and 2006. He continues to officiate Women's College Basketball at the small college levels. In 1984, Baltz joined the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

( Division I-A) where he served as referee (crew chief) until moving to the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

(Division I-A). In the Big Ten, he officiated in three

bowl games In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I Fo ...

as head linesman in his five years in the conference before being accepted to the NFL in 1989. Along with his 21 post-season assignments in the NFL, Mark served as referee in

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 ...

for three seasons between 1999 and 2001 and served as

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

of the National Football League Referees Association (NFLRA) board for 15 seasons, from 2000 to 2014. Baltz currently serves as the Supervisor of Football Officials for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. He also serves as the President & CEO of the start-up website, The Tyros, LLC, designed for video study for sports officials, as well as many other potential video and training applications for numerous levels of athletics. Mark is married to Nicki, and they have two sons, Brett and Brandon, along with 5 grandchildren. Outside of the NFL, Mark previously served on the Indiana Officials Association board for over 20 years, is a founding Director of the Indiana Football Officials Association, an alumni member of

Pi Kappa Phi Pi Kappa Phi (), commonly known as Pi Kapp(s), is an American Greek Letter secret and social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston i ...

fraternity, a member of the Board of Directors of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Secretary of the Central Indiana Chapter of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame. He is self-employed as a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

, clinician and

public speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

. He resides in

Zionsville, Indiana Zionsville is a suburban town located in the extreme southeast area of Boone County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. The population was 14,160 at the 2010 census, 30,693 at the 2020 census, and grew to 33,891 in the 2022 est ...

Awards

*2005 NFHS Officials Association State Award Winne

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltz, Mark Living people Ohio University alumni People from Lancaster, Ohio People from Zionsville, Indiana National Football League officials 1948 births