Scott Green (American football official)
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Scott H. Green (born February 20, 1951) 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 I ...
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 the
1991 NFL season The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. It was the final season for coach Chuck Noll. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills, 37–24, at the Metrod ...
until the 2013 NFL season. He had officiated
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 XXXVI in 2002,
XXXVIII 38 (thirty-eight) is the natural number following 37 (number), 37 and preceding 39 (number), 39. In mathematics *38! − 1 yields which is the 16th factorial prime. *There is no answer to the equation Euler's totient function, φ(''x'') = 38, ma ...
in 2004, and was the
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 ...
for
XLIV 44 (forty-four) is the natural number following 43 and preceding 45. In mathematics Forty-four is a repdigit and palindromic number in decimal. It is the fourth happy number, and the fourth octahedral number. Since the greatest prime factor ...
in 2010. Green was also the head of the NFL Referees Association and led negotiations during the
2012 NFL referee lockout The 2012 NFL referee lockout was a labor dispute between the National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Referees Association that resulted in the use of replacement officials through Week 3 of the 2012 NFL season. The lockout began in June 2012 ...
. Outside his part-time work in professional football, Green works as a Washington, D.C. contractor for public safety and
criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...
agencies as part of a firm he co-founded in 1994. Green announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2013 football season.


Background

Green is a 1969 graduate of Central Bucks High School in
Doylestown, Pennsylvania Doylestown is a borough and the county seat of Bucks County in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Trenton, north of Center City, Philadelphia, southeast of Allentown, and southwest of New York City. As of the 2020 cen ...
, where he was a linebacker and kicker. He is a 1973 graduate of the
University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...
, where he received a bachelor's degree in
criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...
. Prior to his NFL career, from 1985 to 1990 Green was a Judiciary Committee staff person under then-Senator Joe Biden. In 1994, Green, a resident of
Potomac Falls, Virginia Sterling, Virginia, refers most specifically to a census-designated place (CDP) in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population of the CDP as of the 2010 United States Census was 27,822. The CDP boundaries are confined to a relatively s ...
, co-founded the Lafayette Group with
Charles B. DeWitt Charles B. DeWitt, is an American government official who served at the White House Office and the United States Department of Justice. DeWitt served as Director of the National Institute of Justice from 1990 to 1993. Education A native of Cal ...
, a Washington, D.C.,
government contractor A government contractor is a company (privately owned, publicly traded or a state-owned enterprise)either for profit or non-profitthat produces goods or services under contract for the government. Some communities are largely sustained by governme ...
that focuses on
public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensure ...
and
emergency management Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
; as of 2014 the firm employs 90 people.


Officiating career

Green started in the NFL as a
field judge 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 ...
with the start of the
1991 NFL season The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. It was the final season for coach Chuck Noll. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills, 37–24, at the Metrod ...
before switching to back judge after the league swapped position titles at the start of the
1998 NFL season The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League. The season culminated with Super Bowl XXXIII, with the Denver Broncos defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34–19 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. The Broncos had won ...
. Green worked Super Bowl XXXVI on February 3, 2002 as a back judge, Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004 also as a back judge, and Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010 as referee. His last assignment was the Pro Bowl on January 26, 2014 in Honolulu as referee. Green wore uniform number 19, now worn by
Clay Martin Clay Martin is a National Football League (NFL) official. He wears uniform number 19. He entered the league in the season as an umpire, and was promoted to referee for the season, following the retirements of Terry McAulay and Gene Steratore. ...
.


Back judge

Green was considered by some to be the top back judge in the league. He was however involved in a situation described by commissioner
Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the History of the NFL Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 NFL season, 1989 and served until September 1, 2006 ...
as the most disappointing officiating blunder he'd seen in his years as NFL commissioner. During a
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
and
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
Wild Card playoff game in January 2003. Green did not realize that New York's
Rich Seubert Richard Thomas Seubert (; born March 30, 1979) is a former American football guard who played his entire career with the New York Giants of the National Football League. High school career Born in Stratford, Wisconsin, Seubert attended Columbus ...
had lined up legally in a receiver's spot and failed to award a penalty when he was interfered with following an attempted field goal, instead penalizing him. It was later announced that officiating mechanics surrounding field-goal attempts and last plays of games would be changed.


Promotion to referee

He became a referee on a part-time basis during the
2004 NFL season The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League. With New England as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced the rescheduling o ...
when referee
Johnny Grier Johnny Grier (April 16, 1947 – March 8, 2022) was an American football official for 23 years in the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 2004. He began in the NFL as a field judge before becoming the first African-American referee in th ...
was injured. Green became a full-time referee at the start of the
2005 NFL season The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League. Regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006. The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the United ...
after Grier was forced to retire due to a leg injury. Green's first experience as an NFL referee came on October 3, 2004 during a game between the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
and the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
. Green's 2013 NFL officiating crew consisted of umpire Bruce Stritesky, head linesman Tom Stabile, line judge Mike Spanier, field judge Boris Cheek, side judge Larry Rose, and back judge Scott Helverson. During an NFL game he was officiating between 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 ...
and
San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
in 2008, Green ruled a lateral play by the Steelers as illegal, a decision he later conceded was wrong. The incident has prompted the NFL to discuss "potential administrative improvements for replay that would help to prevent this type of mistake in the future."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Scott 1951 births Living people Players of American football from Pennsylvania National Football League officials American lobbyists University of Delaware alumni People from Doylestown, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Alexandria, Virginia