Football: Ex-Husker QB promoted to referee after two years in NFL

Clete Blakeman’s first appearance as a football official was 22 years ago at a high school game in Lincoln.

“My dad asked me to join his crew,’’ said Blakeman, a Nebraska quarterback from 1983-87. “I thought, ‘All right, that’s cool. Now that I’m done playing, it will keep me in the game and I’ll get to hang out with my dad.’”

It wasn’t long before wearing a striped shirt and throwing flags on weekends changed from a fun diversion into serious business for the Omaha attorney.

He progressed to small college work, then Division I games and on into the Big 12. He also worked in NFL Europe. And two years ago, he got the call to become an NFL field judge.

Now, Blakeman has been promoted again.

He has his “R” for referee — making the 45-year-old Norfolk, Neb., native one of just 17 crew chiefs set to work NFL games this fall.

“This is beyond expectations for any achievement I thought I would reach,’’ he said. “This is a huge honor and a lot of responsibility.’’

It’s also well deserved, said one of Blakeman’s former bosses.

Walt Anderson, the Big 12’s coordinator of officials and an NFL official himself, oversaw Blakeman’s work in the Big 12 and in NFL Europe.

“Clete is the type of person we want on the field and off the field,’’ Anderson said. “He takes his job very seriously, but has fun doing it.

“He’s very detail-oriented, but also very common-sensical.’’

Anderson was involved in promoting Blakeman to referee status in the Big 12, where Blakeman eventually worked the league title game and was the alternate referee at a BCS championship game.

“I knew with Clete that I was going to get a good leader,’’ Anderson said. “That’s even more important than the X’s and O’s. You can teach those. What’s difficult to teach at the referee’s spot is the leadership.’’

An NFL promotion to referee after just two seasons is rare.

Anderson could think of only two or three others who moved up that quickly. Anderson, in his 15th NFL season, said he waited seven years to become a crew chief.

Two things, Anderson said, helped get Blakeman on the fast track.

One was experience as a high school and college quarterback.

“The best officials have backgrounds as players,’’ Anderson said. “They already have a feel for the game that you can’t teach.

“You need to manage a game, and Clete — from his days as a quarterback — has a little advantage in that.’’

Better training on the college level also has helped speed the development of officials who move into the NFL.

Said Anderson: “More and more of the training at the college level has become similar to the mechanics used in the NFL. So guys who have worked in the BCS leagues have a chance to move along at a little faster pace.’’

Blakeman grew up around officiating. His father, Glen, was a widely known high school football and basketball official.

“But I never imagined I would be involved in it to this level,’’ Blakeman said.

As a referee, he will have more administrative work and will lead meetings when his crew gathers to do a game.

For a Sunday noon kickoff, Blakeman usually flies out of Omaha Saturday morning to make an early afternoon meeting.

“We’ve got guys coming in from all over the country,’’ he said. “We spend about three hours going over previous games and talking about things we’ve seen. On Saturday night, we go out to dinner and then go back to the hotel to watch college games and talk some more.

“On Sunday morning, we’re at the stadium by 9. And right after the game, they haul us out of there to the airport or the hotel. A lot of times, I get home by Sunday night, which works out well with my legal work.’’

Blakeman said he has appreciated learning from two famous former NFL referees — Jerry Markbreit and Red Cashion — who now work as trainers.

“Having guys like that to call,’’ Blakeman said, “and Walt, too, has really helped me make the transition.’’

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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