18 Facts About Ron Botchan

Ronald Leslie Botchan was an American football player, coach, and official.

Ron Botchan played professionally as a linebacker in the American Football League from 1960 to 1962.

Ron Botchan ascended to the NFL ranks after nine years of officiating high school and college games.

Ron Botchan played linebacker at Belmont High School and later at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.

At Occidental, Ron Botchan was a teammate to Jack Kemp and Jim Mora; and was a collegiate All-Conference baseball player and an All-Conference and Little All-American linebacker.

Ron Botchan was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1957, but went to play football in the United States Marine Corps.

In 1960, Ron Botchan was approached by scouts of the new upstart American Football League and signed a contract for $6,000 to play for the Los Angeles Chargers under head coach Sid Gillman as a starting linebacker.

Ron Botchan signed with the Houston Oilers the next year only to have his football playing career ended due to a knee injury.

Ron Botchan played in the first two American Football League Championship Games, losing the first with the Chargers vs the Oilers, and winning the second when the Oilers again defeated the Chargers in the 1961 AFL Championship.

In 1965, Ron Botchan was hired as the head football coach at North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, succeeding Doug Gerhart.

Ron Botchan was assigned two games as an umpire in the Pacific-10 Conference between 1976 and 1979 before applying and being accepted to the NFL in 1980.

In 1980, Ron Botchan joined the NFL as a line judge because no openings were available as an umpire.

An opportunity opened up for Ron Botchan the following year at the umpire position, which he accepted, and stayed for the remainder of his career in the league.

Ron Botchan was the umpire during a 1988 NFL season game on December 31 between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field played under heavy fog.

Ron Botchan continued without missing a single play of the game, but later required eight stitches.

Ron Botchan served as an assistant supervisor of officials for the NFL.

Ron Botchan once proposed a helmet designed to look like an officials' hat worn by the umpire to protect against head injuries.

In 1997, Ron Botchan was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.