Larry Nemmers (born July 12, 1943) is a retired

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and better known as a former American football official 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). Nemmers made his debut as an NFL official in the 1985 season and continued in this role until the end of the 2007 season. Prior to his officiating career, he was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player at Upper Iowa University. Nemmers officiated at Super Bowl XXV, as well as several playoff games.

Personal

Early years

Larry Nemmers, the eldest of nine children, is a native of

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 67,314, making it the List of cities in Iowa, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

and a 1960 graduate of Columbus High School in Waterloo. There he was a good friend of future professional baseball player, Virg Erickson. He later attended Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa, graduating in 1965 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

. Nemmers also has

master's degrees A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, which he received at East Texas State University in

Commerce, Texas Commerce is a city in Hunt County, Texas, Hunt County, Texas, United States, situated on the eastern edge of North Texas and the western edge of East Texas, in the heart of the Texas Blackland Prairies. The town is south of the Texas/Oklahoma bor ...

and in educational administration from Northern Illinois University in

DeKalb, Illinois DeKalb ( ) is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,290 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is named after decorated Franconian-French war hero Johann de Kalb, who died during the Ameri ...

Family

He and his wife, Sherry, reside in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. He has three sons, Shane, Lance, and Brett, from a previous marriage as well as four grandchildren.

Education career

Nemmers' career in education began in 1965 and retired in 1994. During his time as an educator, he served as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, textbook publisher, assistant principal, and principal. Since his retirement from education, Nemmers has traveled across the country as a motivational speaker. He was principal of Elgin High School in Elgin, IL from 1982 to 1994.

Officiating career

Early years

As an educator, Nemmers also began his career in officiating. He officiated both

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

for 18 years and was selected to officiate in four state final championships. Nemmers also served as the Illinois High School rules interpreter for 15 years. Nemmers moved up to college officiating in 1975 and worked in the Big Ten Conference for nine years, working both football and basketball games. During his college football officiating career, Nemmers officiated in the 1984 Rose Bowl.

NFL career

Nemmers began his NFL officiating career in 1985 as a side judge, and was assigned Super Bowl XXV in 1991, his final game at that position before being promoted to referee for the start of the 1991 NFL season after Jerry Seeman and Jim Tunney announced their retirements. As a referee, he was an alternate for Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. He wore uniform number 20 throughout his entire NFL officiating career.

Memorable games

Nemmers has officiated games which involved a player breaking a statistical record. He was the referee in the January 6, 2002, game that saw

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Emmitt Smith accumulate 1,000 yards rushing in 11 consecutive seasons, breaking a record shared with Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders. In another memorable moment, he was the referee in the November 27, 2005, game that saw New York Giants punter Jeff Feagles set the NFL record for consecutive games with 283, breaking the record held by Minnesota Vikings

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Jim Marshall.

References

External links

Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
(Accessed August 12, 2006). {{DEFAULTSORT:Nemmers, Larry Living people Basketball referees College football officials NFL officials Upper Iowa Peacocks football players East Texas A&M University alumni Sportspeople from Waterloo, Iowa College men's basketball referees in the United States 1943 births