Upon further review: ‘In the world of officiating, Jim Tunney is Babe Ruth’ by Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. —
Jim Tunney has seen both ends of the spectrum.
He was the NFL’s youngest game official when he was hired as a 30-year-old field judge in 1960, and now is the oldest living retired referee, three weeks removed from his 95th birthday.
Tunney, a graduate of Occidental College, was on the field in stripes for some of the most memorable games in NFL history, among them the “Ice Bowl,” a frigid game between Dallas and Green Bay; “The Catch,” when Joe Montana’s pass to Dwight Clark toppled the Cowboys and sent the San Francisco 49ers to their first Super Bowl; and “The Fumble,” when Denver beat Cleveland in the AFC championship game. He refereed three Super Bowls.
