Albert McBrayer misses the big crowds at high school football, which seems a bit counterintuitive, given his connection to the game.
McBrayer is a game official, part of a seven-member crew responsible for enforcing the rules of play, often to the consternation of fans.
Reactions from unpopular calls still rain down on officials in the COVID-19 era, there are just fewer fans to deliver them.
“I think the biggest difference is the crowds,” said McBrayer, who serves as line judge. “We were at West Point last weekend. You know that if there are no restrictions, there’s going to be close to 10,000 people in the stadium. Same way in Starkville. They bring big crowds, too. It’s a whole different atmosphere now. You can feel it.”
Prior to the start of the season, Gov. Tate Reeves issued an order limiting attendance at high school football games to 25 percent capacity. Last week, he raised the attendance maximum to 50 percent.
“I do miss the big crowds we have at some of the games,” McBrayer said. “It creates so much energy and everybody feels it, including us.”
McBrayer, 63, got into the officiating business relatively late compared to most high school officials.
It was sort of an accident, he said.
Roger Short, one of McBryer’s longtime friends, is a longtime football official and crew chief. McBrayer said that friendship led him to take up officiating at age 50.
“Roger lost his clock-operator going into the year and needed somebody,” McBrayer said. “He asked me if I would do it and I agreed, mainly as a favor to Roger.”
After one season as the clock operator, McBrayer was hooked.
The next year, he moved to the field as line judge and has been line judge of Short’s crew ever since.
The line judge’s primary responsibility is enforcing line-of-scrimmage rules, including pre-snap violations.
The move to the field was not without its challenges, especially that first season, McBrayer said.
“My first year on the field, it may have even been my first game, I had one of those moments I’ll never forget,” McBrayer said. “I was nervous as a cat, of course. Well, one of the worst mistakes you can make is an inadvertent whistle.”
At the end of the first half, with East Webster driving inside South Pontotoc territory, East Webster ran a play, which resulted in a fumble recovered by South Pontotoc. Sure enough, McBrayer had whistled the play dead before the fumble.
Immediately recognizing his mistake, he went to each sideline to inform the coaches of his error. By rule, the team on offense had the option of letting the play clock expire or running one more untimed down.
“The East Webster coach said, ‘You mean I can choose to run another play? I’ll take it,” McBrayer recalled. “That was the easy part. The hard part was going over to the other sideline and telling their coach that it was East Webster’s ball and they had another play. Let’s just say he wasn’t happy about that.”
As the teams lined up for the play, McBrayer had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“I just knew East Webster was going to throw the ball and probably score on the play,” he said. “I was sick.”
To his amazement, the East Webster quarterback took the snap, took a couple steps back and kneeled down to end the half. No harm done.
“I guess the coach felt sorry for me,” McBrayer said. “As he was coming out for the second half, I went up to him and thanked him. He said if that’s the worst mistake I ever made, I’d be alright.”
A dozen years later, that moment remains etched in his memory.
Now at 63 and a year removed from knee surgery, McBrayer doesn’t know how much longer he will keep working games.
“I only see rear-ends and feet now,” he said, laughing. “I used to see faces. So I know I can’t keep doing it forever. I think when I make it to 65, that might be the time to step down. We’ll see.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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