- Armen Terzian
Armen Terzian (1915—1989) was an
American football official in theNational Football League (NFL) from 1961 to 1981. He was a field judge and wore the uniform number 23. He officiatedSuper Bowl XI , but Terzian is most remembered from an NFC Divisional Playoff game in 1975 atMetropolitan Stadium between theMinnesota Vikings and theDallas Cowboys , in which he didn't call an apparent offensive pass interference penalty against Cowboy wide receiver Drew Pearson on Viking cornerbackNate Wright after Pearson scored the winning touchdown in the last seconds. Minutes later an angry fan hit Terzian with a whiskey bottle in the back of the head, rendering him momentarily unconscious. He did not require stitches, but had to wear a large white bandage around his forehead for the final few seconds remaining in the game. According to Jerry Bergman, one of the officials working the game, said "The substitute official came in after the kickoff and got $5,500 for working 11 seconds." [http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=17&ID=202145&r=10]Terzian also became infamous by an NFL Films video that highlighted the league's best-ever coaches in 1981. During a segment that features coaches wired for sound,
Marv Levy , then coaching theKansas City Chiefs , screams, "Hey Armen! Hey you over-officious jerk!" at Terzian during a game against theBuffalo Bills in 1978. The game was played at Rich Stadium, the same stadium where Levy would go on to aPro Football Hall of Fame career as the Bills' coach from 1986-97, leading the once woebegone Bills to four consecutive (losing)Super Bowl appearances.Another non-call ended Armen Terzian's career in the NFL, this time as a replay booth official in a 1988 game between the
New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. Terzian failed to review a play where the on-field officials had erroneously awarded a safety to the New York Giants. Terzian's mistake provided the margin of victory, as the Giants defeated the Cowboys by a score of 12-10. NFL CommissionerPete Rozelle suspended Terzian for two games following the error, but Terzian chose to resign.ee also
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The Hail Mary (American football game) External links
*http://www.vikingupdate.com/history/historyprofiles/hailmarydall.html
*http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D9123FF934A35753C1A96E948260
*http://www.cowboysplus.com/classic/webspecials/hailmary/1228hurtofficialsider.html
*http://www.cowboysplus.com/classic/webspecials/hailmary/1228hailmarynotebook.html
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