Walter John Anderson (born September 29, 1952) 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 the

1996 NFL season The 1996 NFL season was the 77th regular season of the National Football League and the season was marked by notable controversies from beginning to end. Most significantly, the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy resulted in a then-unique ...

to the

2019 NFL season The 2019 NFL season was the 100th season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 54th of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 5, 2019, with the NFL Kickoff Game, in which Green Bay defeated Chicago. The season concluded w ...

. He wore uniform number 66. Anderson spent his first seven seasons in the NFL as a line judge before being promoted to referee for the start of the

2003 NFL season The 2003 NFL season was the 84th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular-season play was held from September 4, 2003, to December 28, 2003. Due to damage caused by the Cedar Fire, Qualcomm Stadium was used as an emergenc ...

after

Dick Hantak Dick Hantak (born October 3, 1938) is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL). He was in the NFL for 25 years between 1978 and 2003. He began his NFL officiating career as a back judge and became a referee eight y ...

and

Bob McElwee Robert T. "Bob" McElwee (born August 20, 1935 in Camden, New Jersey) is a former American football official, who served for 42 years, with 27 of those years in the National Football League (NFL) from 1976 to 2003. In the NFL, he wore the uniform ...

announced their retirements. He is notable for officiating

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

. Anderson was also named as referee for

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champi ...

which was played on February 6, 2011, in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, at

Cowboys Stadium AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the hom ...

Early life

Born in

DeFuniak Springs, Florida DeFuniak Springs is a city in Walton County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,968 as of the 2020 Census. The county seat of Walton County, the city also serves as a hub for many residents in surrounding communities. In 2019, MSN's ''I ...

, Anderson was raised in Channelview, Texas where his father was a

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

. He played

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 his father at Channelview. Later, he played

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 ...

for

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

, where he was a two-time Academic All-American and lettered four years. He graduated from Sam Houston State in 1974.

Family

He is married to Afshan and they have one child together (he and his wife each have two children from previous marriages). He currently resides in

Sugar Land, Texas Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around th ...

Other professions

After completing his undergraduate studies at

and received a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

of Dentistry from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Dentistry, he became a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

. He retired from dentistry in 2003 when he was promoted to referee in the NFL. On April 26, 2006, Anderson was named ''Coordinator of Football Officials'' for the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

, succeeding former NFL field judge Tim Millis in this position.

Officiating career

Early years

Wanting to stay active in football following college, Anderson decided to pursue a career in officiating. He began officiating junior high and little leagues, high school, then eventually college. In 11 years of college experience, he worked games in the Lone Star ( Division II),

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

( Division I-FCS), and

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

s (Division I). At the college level, Anderson was scouted by ex-NFL officials who were looking to fill openings at the professional football level.

National Football League

Anderson joined the NFL in 1996 and, as of 2015, he has officiated in 17 playoff games, including eight Wild Card, two Divisional, five Conference Championship games, and two Super Bowls:

in 2001 (as line judge) and

in 2011 (as referee). He was the referee in the January 18, 2015

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

game, known for the

deflategate Deflategate was a National Football League (NFL) controversy involving the allegation that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ordered the deliberate deflation of footballs used in the Patriots' victory against the Indianapolis Colts dur ...

controversy. Anderson cites Super Bowl XXXV as being his most memorable game. Anderson refereed the final NFL game in San Diego, a

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

win over the

Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. Anderson's 2019 NFL officiating crew consisted of umpire Ruben Fowler, down judge Tom Stephan, line judge Byron Boston, field judge Lee Dyer, side judge Rick Patterson, back judge Keith Ferguson, replay official Brian Matoren, and replay assistant Saleem Choudhry. Anderson's final NFL game as referee was a 2019 NFC Divisional Playoff game between the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

and the

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 ...

Levi's Stadium Levi's Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, just outside San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League (NFL)'s San Francisco 49ers since 2014. T ...

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

. After that game, he retired from officiating and was promoted to the NFL front office as a senior vice president.Walt Anderson promoted to NFL front office, leaves field after 24 seasons
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Walt National Football League officials 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas Sam Houston State Bearkats football players University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston alumni People from DeFuniak Springs, Florida