Richard "Dick" Honig is a former

American football official In gridiron football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. During professional and most college football games, seven officials operate on the field. Since 2015, Division ...

. He worked for 22 years in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

(starting in 1983) and nine years in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

and over 20 years as a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

referee for the Mid-American Conference from 1978-2001. He also worked two years as a Reply Trainer and five years as a Rules Analyst for Big Ten Network. Working a total of 17

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

s as an on-field official, Honig's final football game was the 2005 Sugar Bowl between

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

and Auburn. Honig's officiating career in Division I college football spans over a total of 350 games. Honig was born on January 30, 1942. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Honig began to play organized sports in high school and earned varsity letters in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, and football, and he received All-City and All-State honors in baseball and basketball two years in a row. Honig is a 1963 graduate of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

with bachelor's and

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

degrees in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human healt ...

. He was an All-Big Ten

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

on the Wolverines national championship baseball team in 1962. After graduating, Honig served as an assistant coach at Michigan for both the basketball and baseball teams from 1963-1973, which led him to his officiating career since the coaches were also officials. Many coaches at the time also officiated since coaches were not paid well at the time, making just $5,400 a year. Honig is still involved with the Big Ten Conference in a supervisory role and operates

instant replay Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live. The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...

during games. Honig also trains and assigns officials for the

European Federation of American Football IFAF Europe is the governing body of American football in Europe. It is a member of the International Federation of American Football. IFAF Europe replaced the European Federation of American Football (EFAF) which had began in 1976 as the Americ ...

, which he helped establish in 1988. In 1984, Honig started Honig's Whistle Stop, an officials' supplies company, which would later turn into one of the largest officiatting supply companies in the world. Honig started the business is his basement in 1984, and quickly acquired office space a year later. Before the web, Honig's used mail-order catalog and phone sales to build it's business. Honig's has expanded its operation to eight branch offices throughout the United States and Canada, and is the uniform supplier for umpires working the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

. Honig owned and operated the Whistle Stop up until 2017, when he sold the Company and started his retirement. Honig and his wife, Liana, have four children and reside in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Memorable games

During a 2002 game between

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

and Penn State, Honig was chased by Penn State head coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...

following a 42–35 overtime victory by Iowa. Paterno was angered that Penn State wide receiver Tony Johnson caught a pass for a first down with both feet in bounds according to the stadium's video replay board, but the play was ruled an incompletion. The image of the coaching legend running down the official was shown repeatedly on sports highlight shows throughout the 2002 season, as many found it both amusing and amazing that a man his age could run so fast. This game was also a catalyst for the adoption of instant replay in the Big Ten Conference beginning in 2003.

References

External links

Honig's Whistle Stop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honig, Dick Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Baseball shortstops College football officials College men's basketball referees in the United States Michigan Wolverines baseball coaches Michigan Wolverines baseball players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball coaches Baseball players from Ann Arbor, Michigan