Career
Markbreit began officiating in intramural college fraternity games 1953, after nearly being seriously injured several times attempting to play college football at the University of Illinois.
Markbreit began officiating as a career in 1957, when he joined the Central Officials Association, and began working public league and junior varsity games. By the late 1950s, Markbreit was officiating high school games, including several with the teenage Dick Butkus.
Markbreit entered the Big Ten Conference as a back judge at the beginning of 1966 season, and became a referee at the end of the following season. He served as the back judge in the "Game of the Century" on November 19, 1966 between top-ranked Notre Dame and second-ranked Michigan State, and was the referee for the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 1972 between Stanford and Michigan.
Just before the beginning of the 1968 football season, Markbreit was offered (and declined) an early job offer from the NFL as a back judge. He felt that his lack of college experience would prevent him from obtaining the referee position in the NFL.
Markbreit joined the NFL as a line judge in 1976, and became a referee in 1977 upon the retirement of long-time referee Tommy Bell, who was Markbreit's crew chief during the 1976 season. The other members of Bell's crew asked NFL supervisor of officials Art McNally to leave the crew intact and they would "bring Jerry along," and McNally did, with a new line judge. Markbreit retired from the field after working a playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons on January 9, 1999.
Markbreit is still very much involved in the league, as he served as an instant replay official for two years following his retirement as an active official, and currently works as an associate supervisor and head trainer for NFL referees.
His work outside of football has included advertising sales for Where Magazine, and many years as a trade and barter manager for 3M.
Read more about this topic: Jerry Markbreit
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