David Wyant enthralled our Charlottesville Rotary Club with tales of his experience officiating over a span of 45 years. David started out officiating at the high school level, then moved to college and finally to the National Football League where he currently has spent 20 years. He has become a premier official in great demand.
His stories gave us an insight rarely seen outside his officiating circles. We learned of the work as part of an officiating crew. How the crew works together, learns together and is judged by the NFL for their performance. He told us of the mistakes that are seen by the crew and seldom witnessed by the regular spectator, but seen and corrected by the officiating crew almost immediately if possible. Of their work as a team encouraging each member to be alert and focused on every little aspect of a game, especially as the game nears completion when everyone is getting tired. How they review hours and hours of films and how changes are made to rules as soon as officials see that something needs to be corrected to improve safety or the efficiency of officiating. And how they “tolerate” the various comments of the players and coaches.
All in all it was a very pleasant and informative presentation by one of the experts in the field of professional football officiating. Thanks David for a wonderful evening!
