Ron Winter

Infobox Person
name = Ron Winter


image_size = 175px
caption =
birth_date =
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
education =
occupation = NFL official (1995–"Present")
spouse =
parents =
children =
nationality = USA
website =

Ronald J. "Ron" Winter, formerly of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), is a current American football official in the National Football League (NFL).

Winter has officiated in the NFL since the 1995 season; he wears uniform number 14 (previously #82, 1995-1997). Winter's 2006 NFL officiating crew consisted of Roy Ellison, Tom Stabile, Tom Stephan, Bill Lovett, John Parry, and Jim Howey.

Personal

Outside of his NFL officiating duties, Winter is a professor at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Officiating career

NFL career

He entered the NFL as a line judge in 1995, and later was promoted to referee in 1998.

2003 NFL playoffs

In his first playoff assignment as a referee, Winter and his officiating crew were involved in a controversial finish to a New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers played January 5 2003. Officials apparently forgot that New York's Rich Seubert, a guard who had lined up legally in a receiver's spot, was an eligible receiver.

Seubert was grabbed and pulled down by Chike Okeafor on a botched field goal attempt while going downfield to receive a pass. The back judge, Scott Green was the downfield official, thus this was his play to cover, but he had to scramble from the goalpost to get into position to cover the play. Green, not knowing that Seubert was eligible, did not throw a flag to signify the penalty. Instead, the Giants were called for having an ineligible man downfield on the play (guard Tam Hopkins, who had crossed the line of scrimmage during the play).

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue described the situation as the most disappointing officiating blunder he'd seen in his years as NFL commissioner [cite web | first=Peter | last=King | url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/scorecard/news/2003/01/14/sc/ | title=They're Only Human | publisher=SI.com | date=2003-01-14 | accessdate=2006-08-29] and announced that officiating mechanics surrounding field-goal attempts and last plays of games would be changed [cite web | first=Paul | last=Attner | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_3_227/ai_96555190 | title=Taking the fall for one bad call - NFL: insider - football officiating mistake | publisher="The Sporting News" | date=2003-01-20 | accessdate=2006-08-29] .

References