Charles Heberling (April 28, 1925 – December 9, 2019) was an American

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 ...

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

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) and

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

sports administrator. He was the referee for both the Hail Mary Game and The Drive. He was an alternate for the officiating crew for

Super Bowl XXI Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

. Heberling wore the number 46 for the major part of his NFL career. Upon his inauguration into the

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

Hall of Fame, his alma mater described him as "the man who has had the greatest impact on high school athletics in western Pennsylvania in the 100-year history."

Early life and education

A native of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Heberling attended Perry High School in the North Side neighborhood. He attended

, graduating in 1949. There, he was a multi-sport athlete, letting three times in football, where he was a played running back alongside Melvin Bassi, Walter Cooper and "Deacon" Dan Towler, and three times in baseball, where he was a top starting pitcher. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

; it was there that he earned the nickname "

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

." Later, he worked as a teacher and coach of the football and basketball at East Washington High School. He also worked as a salesman for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

. During the 1970s, Heberling was a school board member for the

North Allegheny School District North Allegheny School District is a large, suburban public school district located in McCandless, Pennsylvania, about north of Pittsburgh. It was established in 1948 and serves an area of , including Marshall Township, McCandless Township, ...

Career

Officiating

Heberling worked as a football official in high school and college football for 15 years and basketball for 25 years. He spent 23 years as an official in the

, 15 years of which (1972-86) he spent as a crew chief. He was promoted from line judge to referee in June 1972 following the death of Jack Vest in a motorcycle accident in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, and kept Vest's crew (umpire Frank Sinkovitz, head linesman Leo Miles, line judge Bruce Alford Sr., back judge John Steffen and field judge Tony Skover) together in 1972 and '73.

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 ...

was hired as Heberling's replacement at line judge. He spent another 14 years as an NFL observer. He was the referee for two of the most famous events in professional football: The Hail Mary in 1975, and The Drive in 1987. Later, he was an alternate on the officiating crew for

Super Bowl XIII Super Bowl XIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1978 Dallas Cowboys season, Dallas Cow ...

and

. He was the replay official for

Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

Leadership of WPIAL

In 1976, Heberling took over as executive director of the

Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL, pronounced ) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Western Pe ...

(WPIAL), which held supervisory control over scholastic sports in

. Under his leadership WPIAL grew from an organization being run from a basement into a well-respected and fiscally solvent sports organization, with a permanent headquarters, equality among the male and female sports, and a lucrative contract bringing the WPIAL high school football championship to cable television. He was a capable and headstrong executive, leading the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

'' to say that he "...took a hard stand on many WPIAL issues and ran the league with a certain boldness that infuriated some school officials, coaches and members of the media." In 1986, he successfully secured the use of

Three Rivers Stadium Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) ...

, and later

Heinz Field Acrisure Stadium, formerly (and still colloquially) known as Heinz Field, is a football stadium located in the North Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Foot ...

, as the site of the WPIAL championships for all classes of WPIAL football. He retired from the WPIAL on June 30, 1998, after 22 years.

Personal life

Heberling and his wife Jane had four children, three sons and a daughter. He died at his home in

McCandless, Pennsylvania McCandless is a Township (Pennsylvania), township with Home Rule Municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,709 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a su ...

, on December 9, 2019, at the age of 94. Heberling was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Jane, and his son Daniel. He is survived by two sons, a daughter, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heberling, Chuck 1925 births 2019 deaths Basketball referees College football officials NFL officials Washington & Jefferson Presidents football players Washington & Jefferson Presidents baseball players United States Navy pilots of World War II Military personnel from Pittsburgh Schoolteachers from Pennsylvania Baseball players from Pittsburgh Players of American football from Pittsburgh School board members in Pennsylvania Businesspeople from Pittsburgh 20th-century American businesspeople