USA Football

 

With the help of Bill LeMonnier - the Big 10’s top referee - and former NFL standout and USA Football Board Member Keith Rucker, USA Football had its voice heard across the nation during Super Bowl weekend festivities.

 

LeMonnier, a USA Football Officiating consultant, and Rucker, now a high school coach in Cincinnati and a member of USA Football’s Board of Directors, spent the Friday prior to Super Bowl XLII on radio row. The duo talked on stations coast to coast, promoting USA Football and its mission to further strengthen Amerirca’s favorite sport at all amateur levels.

 

Nationally-syndicated Sporting News Radio Network and popular radio and television host Tim Brando welcomed LeMonnier for a morning segment.

 

“If you talk about the game, you have to know the rules of the game,” said Brando, opening his segment introducing the 15-year Big 10 referee and veteran Arena Football League official.

 

Brando and LeMonnier talked about the USA Football Officiating Seminar, to be held later that evening, and discussed rules and how they vary at different levels of the game.

 

“We’re trying to heighten and improve the consistency of how the game is called,” LeMonnier told the nationwide audience. “As important as rules are, we think that being well-rounded in philosophies is extremely important.”

 

Shortage of officials — an issue USA Football is hitting head-on in trying to resolve — instant replay, arena football, and Brando’s favorite conference – the SEC – made for interesting chatter.

 

The next stop was Indianapolis - just a short walk from Brando’s stage - and to ESPN 1070, with hosts Eddie White and Bob Kravitz, a columnist for the Indianapolis Star.

 

White was very interested in finding out more about USA Football, which will be in Indianapolis for an officiating seminar in July.

 

“Who is Bill LeMonnier?” asked White in his opening to his Hoosier audience. “He’s the No. 1 football referee in the Big 10. Is that right?”

 

“That’s what I hear,” answered LeMonnier, not wanting to toot his own horn.

 

“Don’t be humble,” White said.

 

LeMonnier shared with the Indiana audience that he officiated the Old Oaken Bucket game between state rivals Indiana and Purdue. He mentioned USA Football Director of Officiating, Tony Michalek, is an IU grad and former Hoosier football player whose top-officiating grade earned him the right to work as the umpire in Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and New England Patriots.

 

He was also given the opportunity to talk about USA Football and its goal to support and promote amateur football. He also let folks in Indianapolis know how they can become an official with USA Football’s assistance through usafootball.com.

 

Later in the day, Rucker, who played for the Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins in the 1990s, talked with Drew Forrester, a Baltimore radio host for WNST AM-1570 AM.

 

“We’re further strengthening the quality of the game for everyone who touches it, especially the kids who love playing it,” said Rucker. “We’re basically trying to open this thing up as wide as we can and help promote the game of football.”

 

“We Never Stop Talking” is AM-1570’s slogan, and Rucker and Forrester kept it true in a fun segment for listeners in the City of Firsts.

 

Rucker moved from the NFL to high school coaching. He’s the head coach at Cincinnati’s Mount Healthy High School. A defensive tackle during his playing days, Forrester was quick to comment about Rucker’s size and had some advice for the coach’s team.

 

“I wouldn’t want to cross you if I was one of those high school kids,” Forrester said.

 

“It’s a lot of fun,” Rucker said of coaching his team. “It’s my way of giving back. This is my eighth year coaching and third as the head coach. I’m teaching the kids some of the things I wasn’t taught at their age and telling them about some of the mistakes I made as a football player and athlete and student, hoping they will avoid those mistakes.”

 

They continued on the popularity of high school football in Ohio.

 

“It’s huge on all levels,” said Rucker.

 

It was also huge for USA Football to spread its message on the large stage of the Super Bowl’s radio row.

 

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc.