Art McNally, the first on-field official inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has died. He was 97.
FILE - A video of NFL official Art McNally is played during an induction ceremony at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. His son, Tom McNally, said Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, that his father died of natural causes at a hospital in Newtown, Pennsylvania, near his longtime home.
“Art McNally was an extraordinary man, the epitome of integrity and class," Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement Monday. “Throughout his distinguished officiating career, he earned the eternal respect of the entirecommunity. Fittingly, he was the first game official enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. But more importantly, he was a Hall of Fame person in absolutely every way.
After a nine-year career on the field, McNally overhauled the department when he took it over in 1968 and remained involved until retiring in 2015. Before shifting to the NFL league office in 1968, McNally would often officiate high school, college and professional games on the same weekend. Under his watch, the NFL standardized how officials worked a game in their positioning and what calls they made to bring more consistency to the sport.
“That was kind of cutting edge. People weren’t doing it. Art came in and understood that this was something that was needed and laid that foundation and that foundation is still what we stand on today in the officiating world. Every league in every sport at every level has an evaluation system and that all goes back to Art.”
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