Jerry Markbreit was born on March 23,1935 and is a former American football referee in the National Football League for 23 seasons and became one of the most recognizable referees in the game.
21 Facts About Jerry Markbreit
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From 1965 to 1975, Markbreit officiated college football games in the Big Ten Conference.
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Jerry Markbreit then joined the NFL in 1976 as a line judge on the crew of Tommy Bell before being promoted to the head referee position in just his second year.
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Jerry Markbreit began officiating in intramural college fraternity games 1953, after nearly being seriously injured several times attempting to play college football at the University of Illinois.
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Jerry Markbreit began officiating as a career in 1957, when he joined the Central Officials Association, and began working public league and junior varsity games.
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Jerry Markbreit officiated his first Big Ten game, Northwestern at Indiana on September 25,1965.
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Jerry Markbreit joined the Big Ten as a full-time back judge in 1966, and in 1968, was promoted to referee after taking charge of a 1967 game between Missouri and Northwestern at Evanston, Illinois, a few miles from his residence in Skokie.
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Just before the beginning of the 1968 football season, Jerry Markbreit was offered an early job offer from the NFL as a field judge.
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Jerry Markbreit felt that his lack of college experience would prevent him from obtaining the referee position in the NFL.
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Moments after Hayes' tirade, Jerry Markbreit ejected Buckeyes linebacker Randy Gradishar for punching Michigan quarterback Tom Slade through his face mask, triggering a 10-minute brawl.
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Jerry Markbreit did not officiate the Ohio State-Michigan game again until November 22,1975, his last game as a Big Ten official.
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Jerry Markbreit joined the NFL as a line judge in 1976, and became a referee in 1977 upon the retirement of long-time referee Tommy Bell, who was Jerry Markbreit's crew chief during the 1976 season.
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Jerry Markbreit retired from the field after working a playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons on January 9,1999.
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Jerry Markbreit officiated the Holy Roller play, a game-winning play executed by the Oakland Raiders against the San Diego Chargers on September 10,1978.
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Jerry Markbreit ruled that Stabler fumbled the ball instead of intentionally throwing a forward pass, and the league backed up the call.
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In November 1986, Jerry Markbreit was the referee at Soldier Field when the Green Bay Packers visited to play the Chicago Bears.
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Jerry Markbreit ejected Packers defensive end Charles Martin after he bodyslammed Jim McMahon shoulder-first into the AstroTurf.
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Years later, Jerry Markbreit said that he felt Martin's hit was so far outside the bounds of the game that the only option was an ejection.
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Jerry Markbreit's move set a precedent; any violent act that is not considered part of the game is grounds for ejection.
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At Super Bowl XXVI, the Buffalo Bills' Brad Daluiso launched the opening kickoff before Jerry Markbreit blew his whistle and signaled the kick could be made.
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Jerry Markbreit remained involved in the league, as he served as an instant replay official for two years following his retirement as an active official, and later worked as an associate supervisor and head trainer for NFL referees.