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Post by FredFan7 on Nov 17, 2011 23:53:39 GMT -5
Tommy Bell (#7 before Fred Silva or Ron Blum) was a referee in the NFL for 15 years, retiring after the 1976 after being diagnosed with leukemia. He succumbed to the disease in 1986. I never saw him officiate. But in reading about his career, it is obvious that he was revered by the players, coaches, front office, and fellow officials. Jerry Markbreit watched him like a hawk his first year and if you watch old footage of Bell, you see many of Bell's mannerisms adopted by Markbreit. Before Markbreit, Hochuli, Cashion, Carey, or Haggerty, there was Tommy Bell - the first really noticeable NFL referee. This thread is dedicated to Bell. It contains articles about him, plus video and photos.  |
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Post by FredFan7 on Nov 17, 2011 23:59:46 GMT -5
Mr. Bell's obit: lat.ms/sSl7CNFeature: bit.ly/ukXq3hArticle about his last game: bit.ly/v9sk2pOutstanding SI article: bit.ly/ujX48cIt's interesting that Bell was slated to officiate Super Bowl XI, but Pete Rozelle wanted Bell to officiate the AFC Championship game between the Raiders and Steelers. Earlier that year, the two teams fought, had cheap shots, and Chuck Noll was sued by a Raider player for saying the Raiders had "a criminal element" to them. Rozelle wanted the game to be played under control, and took Bell off the Super Bowl and put him on the CC. |
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Post by teo on Nov 18, 2011 6:50:40 GMT -5
It's interesting that when those teams met in the first game of the 1976 season, the referee was Jim Tunney, who ended orking Super Bowl XI instead of Bell. I believe that's the reason that Tunney was the only official for many years to have worked consecutive Super Bowls.
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Post by FredFan7 on Nov 18, 2011 9:05:26 GMT -5
It's interesting that when those teams met in the first game of the 1976 season, the referee was Jim Tunney, who ended orking Super Bowl XI instead of Bell. I believe that's the reason that Tunney was the only official for many years to have worked consecutive Super Bowls. The only other person to work back-to-back is Tom Sifferman. This was when SB assignments were switching from all-star to crews, then back to all-star. Even though it was an honor to have that much confidence placed in you, I'd still want to finish with a SB. Still, Bell had an impressive resume with all the NFL Championships, Conference Championships, and Super Bowls. |
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Post by howard63 on Nov 18, 2011 9:59:32 GMT -5
As I believe has been noted elsewhere, Tommy Bell also officiated college basketball. He is one of the very few to officiate in the Super Bowl and Final Four. His Final Four appearance came in 1959.
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Post by FredFan7 on Dec 3, 2011 15:27:18 GMT -5
Nice footage of Bell from the inaugural NFC Conference Championship Game: bit.ly/vRroIc |
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