On The TunneySide of Sports December 31, 2018 #725 Up next… Fog Bowl Revisited
After further review… It was not-too-cold, but a clear day on December 30, 1988 when our crew of seven arrived in Chicago for the NFL Divisional Championship game between the NFC East Champion Philadelphia Eagles and the NFC North Champion Chicago Bears. Our crew was made-up of U-Ron Botchan, HL-Tom Johnston, LJ-Bama Glass, FJ-Tom Sifferman, SJ-Dave Parry, FJ-Jack Vaughn and yours truly as Referee. For Parry it would be his final NFL game as he was moving-on to become the Big-10 Supervisor of Officials. It is comforting to have an experienced crew who finished the 1988 season with high marks.
However, what lay ahead the next day Saturday, December 31st – 30 years ago today –was more than just a playoff game, but one that has been labeled historic! The Bears led at halftime 17-9 without much excitement – that came in the second half. As we left our locker room and walked onto Soldier Field, we were greeted by a massive fog that had rolled-in from Lake Michigan and practically covered the entire stadium. Are we able to continue? Is the question I had to ask myself.
As the referee, aka crew chief, that responsibility rested with me. I approached the Eagles Head Coach Buddy Ryan and asked if he thought we could play in these conditions. His answer, as expected, was curt and to the point, “Heck, the fog is the same on both sides of the ball, let’s play.” Approaching Bears Head Coach Mike Ditka, he responded similarly, “Let’s play.” It should be noted that Ryan was the Bears defensive coordinator with Ditka the head coach when the Bears won Super Bowl XX in 1986. There was no love lost between those two.
My next duty was to check with the NFL Commissioner’s representative, Don Weiss, and report the conversations I had with the two coaches. After exploring several options, it was decided that we would play. With fog blanketing the field, the CBS broadcasting crew of Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw could not see the game from their booth, so Bradshaw came down on the sidelines to broadcast his part. With the stadium’s announcer also unable to see the playing action, I took to my referee’s mic to announce down and distance before each play.
The Bears prevailed and won with a score of 20-12. As soon as we returned to our locker room, the phone rang. It was NFL Vice-President of Communications, Joe Browne informing me not to change-out of my uniform since CBS reporter Will McDonough wanted to interview me about why we continued to play in these unusual conditions. This was a first since, to my knowledge, the NFL had never allowed a live interview of a game official immediately following a game. That was followed by a live interview with NBC reporter, Jim Gray. Both interviews went well.
Will you recall your thoughts on that game and where you were when you saw it?
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