Portal:American football/Selected official/6

Johnny Grier (April 16, 1947 – March 8, 2022) was an American football official for 23 years in the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 2004. He began in the NFL as a field judge before becoming the first African-American referee in the history of the NFL with the start of the 1988 NFL season. Grier officiated in one Super Bowl, Super Bowl XXII in 1988, which was his last game as a field judge and the same game in which Doug Williams became the first African-American quarterback to win the Super Bowl. On the field, he wore uniform number 23, which was also worn by Jerome Boger, another African-American referee.

Grier attended college at the University of the District of Columbia. (Full article...)