Jack Douglas Vest (September 16, 1926 – June 2, 1972) was an American athlete, sports coach, and official. He was a 12-letter man at
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...
, winning honors in
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
, and
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
between 1946 and 1950. He is also to be found numerous times in the Buccaneer record book. He was an outstanding
quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
in football and averaged between 15 and 20 points per season in basketball. A gifted passer, Vest held the Buccaneer record for most passes completed in a single game for years. He was a member of the All-Decade 1940s team as a quarterback and figured prominently in some of the better teams fielded by coach
Loyd T. Roberts. Vest is a member of the East Tennessee State Athletic Hall of Fame.
After leaving East Tennessee State, Vest coached high school football and turned out a 9–0–1 record with a
St. Paul, Virginia
St. Paul is a town in Russell and Wise counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 970 at the 2010 census. Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, which powers 150,000 homes, is located in St. Paul.
History
St. Paul, Virginia is a ...
team which had only 17 players on the entire squad. He coached at
Greeneville High School in
Greeneville, Tennessee
Greeneville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of American Revolutionary War, Revol ...
from 1951 to 1953.
After coaching football at Hanes High School in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...
, he became an executive in the insurance department of
Wachovia
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...
and devoted much time to officiating. Vest official games in the
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...
and the
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
and worked in the
Gator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...
as a football official in 1964. For six years in a row he was an official in the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...
(NAIA) national championships in
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
.
In 1965, he became an official in the
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...
(AFL). He was the referee for
Super Bowl II
The second AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super Bowl II) was an American football game played on January 14, 1968, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The National Football League (NFL)'s defending champion Green Ba ...
between the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
and the
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...
.
He wore uniform number 3 as a referee in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) during the 1970 and 1971 seasons. During a
Monday Night Football
''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...
game between the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
and
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
in November 1970, Vest wore bright blue gloves which were easily visible to the television audience. The NFL soon passed a rule all officials' gloves had to be black. That game is more memorable, however, for the antics in the broadcast booth, where
Howard Cosell
Howard William Cosell (; né Cohen; March 25, 1918 – April 23, 1995) was an American sports journalist, broadcaster and author. Cosell became prominent and influential during his tenure with ABC Sports from 1953 until 1985.
Cosell was widel ...
threw up on
Don Meredith
Joseph Donald Meredith (April 10, 1938 – December 5, 2010), nicknamed "Dandy Don" was an American football player, sports commentator, and actor. He played as a quarterback for nine seasons with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Le ...
's boots and had to leave
Franklin Field
Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. Named after Penn's founder, Benjamin Franklin, it is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the university's ve ...
at halftime.
Vest worked the 1970 AFC divisional playoff game between the
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
and
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...
, and the 1971 AFC Championship Game between the Colts and
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
. His crew for the 1971 season included umpire
Frank Sinkovitz, head linesman Leo Miles, line judge
Bruce Alford, back judge John Steffen, and field judge Tony Skover. Steffen replaced Bob Frederic from Vest's 1970 crew when Frederic was promoted to referee for 1971 to replace the retired Bob Finley.
In June 1972 Vest was killed in a motorcycle accident at
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the "Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...
.
Chuck Heberling
Charles Heberling (April 28, 1925 – December 9, 2019) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) and Western Pennsylvania sports administrator. He was the referee for both the Hail Mary Game and The Drive. He was ...
was promoted from line judge to replace Vest as referee, and the remainder of Vest's crew worked with Heberling during the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Heberling's line judge position was filled by
Red Cashion
Mason Lee "Red" Cashion (November 10, 1931February 10, 2019) was an American football official for 25 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), where he was the referee for two Super Bowls.
Biography
Cashion started officiating in 1952 wh ...
.
See also
*
List of American Football League officials
The American Football League (AFL, 1960–1969) had a unique take on the uniforms of referees, umpires, line judges, field judges and back judges. With their red-orange stripes, black collars and cuffs, and AFL logos on their shirt fronts, s ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vest, Jack
1926 births
1972 deaths
American Football League officials
American men's basketball players
Basketball referees
College football officials
East Tennessee State Buccaneers baseball players
East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball players
East Tennessee State Buccaneers football players
NFL officials
High school football coaches in North Carolina
High school football coaches in Tennessee
High school football coaches in Virginia
Road incident deaths in South Carolina
20th-century American sportsmen