Jim Tunney and Al Jury were legends in the NFL world

On December 16, 2024By Littum

It is the goal of NFL officials to go unnoticed. After a game, they want fans and pundits to talk about the action on the field, not people in stripes and whistles.

Jim Tunney and All Jury lived – and thrived – by these standards.

The two giants in their profession died recently, and the absence of the two Southern Californians is deeply felt in the officiating world.

Tunney, who at 95 was the oldest living retired judge, died Thursday at his home in Pebble Beach, California. He had been the NFL’s youngest referee when he was hired as a 30-year-old referee in 1960 and in the following decades was in touch with some of the most memorable games in the league’s history.

Jury died at age 83 in San Bernardino, his hometown, and was considered one of the NFL’s premier downfield officials. He worked his way to a record five Super Bowls and almost certainly would have been on the field for more had he not suffered a career-ending broken leg during a game in 2003.

When he wasn’t officiating games, Jury was first a postman and later an officer for the California Highway Patrol. On the field, he wore thick goggles and was loved by his officials.

“Not only was he great mechanically, but he had uncanny judgment on the field,” retired NFL referee Mike Carey said. “The league isn’t black and white, so it’s really important to know what to call. Both Al Jury and Jim Tunney were good at not only demonstrating that, but sharing that richness with new officials coming in. “

NFL referee Al Jury explains a ruling to Kansas City Chiefs coaches.

A graduate of Occidental College, Tunney held a day job as principal at Fairfax High in Los Angeles for seven years.

“School was out on Friday afternoon, and the next morning I got on a plane at LAX and flew to Detroit or Green Bay or Miami or somewhere by myself,” he told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year. “First-class travel courtesy of (then-NFL commissioner) Pete Rozelle.”

The self-effacing Tunney was not incognito to many of his students.

“Especially at Fairfax because those kids were so sharp,” he said. “They came back Monday morning and said, ‘Oh, you sure made that play…’ I just laughed and said, ‘Yeah, I probably did.'”

Among the iconic games Tunney worked on were the “Ice Bowl,” a frigid classic between Dallas and Green Bay; “The Catch,” when Joe Montana’s pass to Dwight Clark overthrew the Cowboys and sent the San Francisco 49ers to their first Super Bowl; and “The Fumble,” when Denver beat Cleveland in the AFC Championship. He refereed three Super Bowls.

When the NFL wanted to use an illustration of what gesture was used for a specific call, the league used a drawing of Tunney.

CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz put it succinctly: “In the world of officiating, Jim Tunney is Babe Ruth.”

Former NFL referee Jim Tunney sits in front of a portrait of himself at his home in Pebble Beach, California.

Jury began officiating high school games at 18 after graduating from Pacific High in San Bernardino, where he was a multi-sport athlete. He began his NFL career in 1978, as the passing game became more sophisticated, the league expanded from six to seven.

“The hardest call in the game is pass interference or offensive pass interference, that battle for the ball,” Carey said. “It’s a completely different art and science that you have to devote a lot of time, not just to the rules, what you can or can’t do, but to learn the nuances of what receivers and defenders do.

“You have to see all four appendages and the ball all the time. It’s a real skill set and Al mastered it and helped teach it.”

The jury was selected to judge the Super Bowls between Chicago and New England (1985 season), Washington and Denver (1987), San Francisco and Denver (1989), Dallas and Buffalo (1993) and St. Louis and Tennessee (1999).

“Referees tend to get all the attention, but Al Jury was as good at his job as any ref was good at his,” said Mike Pereira, Fox rules analyst. “He was the go-to guy for any tough fight you had. Nobody challenged that man. He didn’t shut up — that was the CHP in him — and he was just a great guy.”