Bill Vinovich

Bill Vinovich
Nationality  United States
Occupation NFL official (2001–2006, 2012–present), College basketball official

Bill Vinovich III is an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 2001 to 2006 and since 2012, as well as a college basketball official.

Early life

He was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. His family moved to California. He played football through four years of college, transitioning to officiating upon his magna cum laude graduation in 1983 from the University of San Diego with a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting.[1]

Officiating career

Vinovich began his career in the NFL as a side judge on the officiating crew headed by referees Dick Hantak (2001) and Ed Hochuli (2002–2003)[2] before being promoted to referee for the start of the 2004 NFL season after former referee Ron Blum returned to his original position of line judge. In the NFL, he wears uniform number 52.

As a college basketball official, Vinovich officiated a first round contest between Virginia Tech and Illinois in the 2007 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament on March 16, 2007. Due to a heart condition, Bill Vinovich retired from field duty prior to the 2007 season, to serve as the replay official for Ed Hochuli. He was replaced as a referee by former side judge John Parry.

In 2012, doctors gave Vinovich a clean bill of health, and he returned for the 2012 NFL season as a substitute official, working several games during the season. His first game back since 2006 was on October 14, 2012, heading Scott Green's crew in Philadelphia.[3]

He was the referee of Super Bowl XLIX, played on February 1, 2015, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.[4] Before that, he was the alternate referee of Super Bowl XLVII, which was played in New Orleans on February 3, 2013. In addition, Vinovich has officiated eight other post-season games, including two conference championship games (2002 and 2015), four divisional playoff games (2003, 2012, 2014 and 2017), and two wild card playoff games (2006 and 2013).[5]

Vinovich's 2018 NFL officiating crew consists of umpire Bruce Stritesky, down judge Phil McKinnely, line judge Mark Perlman, field judge Mearl Robinson, side judge Gary Cavaletto, and back judge Steve Patrick.[6]

Personal life

Outside his officiating career, Vinovich works as a certified public accountant.

References

  1. ↑ "Bill Vinovich III". Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame. Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. ↑ Behind the Football Stripes officiating crew archive
  3. ↑ "Bill Vinovich to return to field as referee". footballzebras.com. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
  4. ↑ Austro, Ben (January 14, 2015). "Bill Vinovich confirmed as referee for Super Bowl XLIX". FootballZebras. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ Bill Vinovich NFL Official Statistics at Pro Football Reference
  6. ↑ http://www.footballzebras.com/2018/07/06/officiating-crews-for-the-2018-season/


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.