Armen Terzian
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Armen Terzian (1915–1989) was an American-Armenian
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 ...
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 to . He was 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 ...
and wore uniform number 23.


Career

Armen was the field judge for the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
' first regular season game vs. the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
on September 17, 1967 at
Tulane Stadium Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium that stood in New Orleans from 1926 to 1980. It was officially the Third Tulane Stadium and replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium", which was located where the Telephone Exchange Building is now. Th ...
. Terzian signaled the Saints' first touchdown when
John Gilliam John Rally Gilliam (born August 7, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He has owned a number of businesses, and for two years he worked for a radio station in ...
returned the opening kickoff 94 yards. Terzian officiated an NFC Divisional Playoff game in December at
Metropolitan Stadium Metropolitan Stadium (often referred to as "the Met", "Met Stadium", or now "the Old Met" to distinguish from the Metrodome) was an outdoor sports stadium in the north central United States, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneap ...
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 visiting
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
. Following a late
Hail Mary The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...
touchdown pass by the Cowboys—that many Vikings fans, believed should have been called off for
Pass Interference In American and Canadian gridiron football, pass interference (PI) is a foul that occurs when a player interferes with an eligible receiver's ability to make a fair attempt to catch a forward pass. Pass interference may include tripping, pushing, ...
—to take the lead, an angry fan threw a
whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cask ...
bottle that hit Terzian in the forehead. He was momentarily unconscious, though Armen did not require stitches. Terzian wore a large white bandage around his forehead and exited the game on foot during the final few seconds. The following season Terzian officiated
Super Bowl XI Super Bowl XI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
, also a Vikings' loss. During a
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
game between the
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 ...
and
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. ...
at
Rich Stadium Highmark Stadium is a stadium in Orchard Park (town), New York, Orchard Park, New York State, New York, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo, New York, Buffalo metropolitan area. The stadium opened in 1973 Buffalo Bills season, 1973 as Rich Stadium a ...
, Chiefs coach
Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...
protested a call by Terzian by screaming "Hey Armen! Hey you over-officious jerk!". The sound bite has been a staple of
NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ot ...
highlights of coaches on the sideline since. When the NFL adopted an
instant replay Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live. The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...
review system in 1986, Armen became a replay official. Under the system used at the time which is similar to the one used in American college football today, the replay official would page one of the officials (in this case, the umpire) who would inform the referee that he wanted to take a closer look at the play to see if something was missed. Only the replay official could initiate a review; unlike today's NFL, coaches were not allowed to challenge plays (the collegiate system also allows challenges, although the procedure is different). Terzian's career ended because of an incident in Week 3 of the 1988 season, during the game between the
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
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
at
Texas Stadium Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened on October 24, 1971, it was known for its distinctive hole in the roof, the result of abandoned plans to construct a retractable roof (Cowboy ...
. The Cowboys were to receive the opening kickoff, and running back
Darryl Clack Darryl Earl Clack (born October 29, 1963) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played col ...
stood at his two-yard line to receive the kick from
Raul Allegre Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
. Clack, lost sight of the ball in the sunlight and could not field it cleanly. It bounced into the end zone, where Clack picked it up and was swarmed by Giants defenders. Mark Collins tackled Clack and referee Pat Haggerty ruled the play a safety and gave two points to New York. The play had not been called correctly on the field as it was treated as a fumble and not a muffed kick. Since Clack had muffed the kick, the rules dictated that the play should have resulted in a touchback and a Dallas possession at their 20-yard line. Armen never made the call to review the play, and the safety stood. It also proved to be the margin of victory in the 12-10 result, with the Giants defeating the Cowboys. Terzian admitted his error later, releasing a statement to this effect to the press during the game. NFL Commissioner
Pete Rozelle Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle (; March 1, 1926 – December 6, 1996) was an American businessman and executive. Rozelle served as the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 until his retirement i ...
chose to suspend Terzian for his actions after the game, and Terzian responded by submitting his resignation which Rozelle accepted several weeks later.


Death

Terzian died in 1989 at the age of 74.


References


External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20041206195310/http://www.vikingupdate.com/history/historyprofiles/hailmarydall.html * https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/07/sports/sports-people-erring-official-quits.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Terzian, Armen 1915 births 1989 deaths National Football League officials University of Southern California alumni Violence in sports American people of Armenian descent