LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Norm Schachter, who refereed the first Super Bowl and the first Monday Night Football game, has died. He was 90. Schachter died Saturday at a convalescent home in San Pedro, according to his son, Bob.
In his other career, Schachter wrote a dozen English and vocabulary textbooks and was a former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The Brooklyn-born Schachter held a doctorate from Alfred University in New York and was a high school coach and English teacher when he began refereeing local games in 1941 in Redlands.
After serving with the Marines in World War II, he went back to teaching and coaching. In 1948, his basketball team at Washington High School won the Los Angeles city championship.
Later, he became a high school principal and was an area superintendent for Los Angeles schools from 1971 to 1978.
His National Football League career began in 1954 when then-Commissioner Bert Bell hired him at $100 a game with a guarantee of seven games.
The weekend job went on to last 22 years. He officiated in 1967 at Super Bowl I in the Los Angeles Coliseum, in which the Packers beat the Chiefs 35-10.
He headed a crew of six officials and six alternates -- still a Super Bowl record.
"Who knows? Maybe they thought we would all get struck by lightning or something," he told the Los Angeles Times in 1993. "I just didn't want them all to walk on the field at the same time. It might have scared somebody."
He went on to work in three Super Bowls and 11 championship games.
Offseason, he coached his sons' Little League and other teams.
Schachter wrote or co-wrote several books about football. In 1981's Close Calls: The Confessions of a NFL Referee, he offered NFL officials some advice: "Don't waste time second-guessing yourself -- there will be millions who will do it for you."
Schachter recalled a game between the Rams and 49ers in the 1950s in Los Angeles when he made a call against the home team.
His oldest son, Tom, then about 9, was in the stands. After the game, he told the boy not take crowd criticism of his father personally.
"I took it personally," his son replied. "You blew the call."
Schachter retired from the NFL after Super Bowl X but continued to work with the NFL. He edited the league rule book, helped write the officials' manual and wrote weekly exams for NFL officiating crews.
In addition to Bob and Tom, Schachter is survived by his son Jim and eight grandchildren.
Associated Press
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In his other career, Schachter wrote a dozen English and vocabulary textbooks and was a former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The Brooklyn-born Schachter held a doctorate from Alfred University in New York and was a high school coach and English teacher when he began refereeing local games in 1941 in Redlands.
After serving with the Marines in World War II, he went back to teaching and coaching. In 1948, his basketball team at Washington High School won the Los Angeles city championship.
Later, he became a high school principal and was an area superintendent for Los Angeles schools from 1971 to 1978.
His National Football League career began in 1954 when then-Commissioner Bert Bell hired him at $100 a game with a guarantee of seven games.
The weekend job went on to last 22 years. He officiated in 1967 at Super Bowl I in the Los Angeles Coliseum, in which the Packers beat the Chiefs 35-10.
He headed a crew of six officials and six alternates -- still a Super Bowl record.
"Who knows? Maybe they thought we would all get struck by lightning or something," he told the Los Angeles Times in 1993. "I just didn't want them all to walk on the field at the same time. It might have scared somebody."
He went on to work in three Super Bowls and 11 championship games.
Offseason, he coached his sons' Little League and other teams.
Schachter wrote or co-wrote several books about football. In 1981's Close Calls: The Confessions of a NFL Referee, he offered NFL officials some advice: "Don't waste time second-guessing yourself -- there will be millions who will do it for you."
Schachter recalled a game between the Rams and 49ers in the 1950s in Los Angeles when he made a call against the home team.
His oldest son, Tom, then about 9, was in the stands. After the game, he told the boy not take crowd criticism of his father personally.
"I took it personally," his son replied. "You blew the call."
Schachter retired from the NFL after Super Bowl X but continued to work with the NFL. He edited the league rule book, helped write the officials' manual and wrote weekly exams for NFL officiating crews.
In addition to Bob and Tom, Schachter is survived by his son Jim and eight grandchildren.
Associated Press
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