James DeBell 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 I ...

who was in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) and the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

Career

DeBell started his career officiating

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and then eventually moved on to college football. He officiated in the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

and the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

before joining the NFL. He also refereed in

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schoo ...

and

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

as well as the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

and

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. He officiated the

Emerald Bowl The San Francisco Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA and played in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally named the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl during its first two editions from 2002 to 2003, it ...

in December 2004. DeBell made his debut in the NFL as a side judge on the crew of

Alberto Riveron Alberto Riveron (born June 5, 1960) is a Cuban-American former American football official and was the Senior Vice President of Officiating of the National Football League (NFL) from 2017 to 2021. Early life Alberto Riverón was born in Cub ...

in 2009. His first NFL game that he officiated was in

Tampa Bay, Florida Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

, where the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

played against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He officiated 17 games his first NFL football season. His first NFL playoff appearance was in the 2010–11 NFC Divisional round between the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

and the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

. In 2011, he was awarded the Outstanding Football Official Award (Rochester) by the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

and

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...

(NFF). For 2014, DeBell was on the officiating crew headed by referee

Bill Vinovich Bill Vinovich III (born December 1, 1960) is an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) who has worked as a NFL referee from 2001 to 2006 and since 2012; he is also a college basketball official. Early life Vinovich ...

. On May 29, 2015, it was announced that DeBell would not return to the field for the

2015 NFL season The 2015 NFL season was the 96th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL), and the 50th in the Super Bowl era. To celebrate the 50th season of the Super Bowl, a gold-plated NFL logo and other various gold-themed promotions ...

.http://www.thelcn.com/news/dansville-s-debell-out-for-nfl-season/article_b83ea764-05c5-11e5-8ee6-d384843d086b.html During the

2019 AAF season The 2019 AAF season was the only season in the history of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began on February 9, 2019. A ten-week regular season was scheduled for each of the league's eight teams. On April 2, multiple sources indic ...

, DeBell is a back judge on the officiating crew led by referee Reggie Smith.

Personal life

Outside of the football, DeBell is retired. He graduated from Arcadia High School in

Greece, New York Greece is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. A suburb of Rochester, New York, it is the largest town by population in Monroe County, and the second-largest municipality by population in the county, behind only the City of Rocheste ...

, in 1980 and was involved in all sports including football, baseball, and basketball. At approximately and , he has the physique of an athlete. DeBell currently resides in

Conesus, New York Conesus is a town in Livingston County, New York, United States. The population was 2,473 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a native word meaning "berry place". Conesus is on the county's east border, and is north of Dansville. His ...

, with his wife, Luane, and their children, Nikole and Tyger. He is the son of James DeBell, who was well known throughout NYS athletics, and Joyce Debell. He has two sisters, Debbie and Sandy, and a brother, Joe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeBell, Jimmy 1962 births Living people National Football League officials Sportspeople from Rochester, New York American women's basketball coaches