The Idle American: Welcome - or warning - signs

It’s a sign that Lindsay Rogers hangs on the front door when August rolls around: “We interrupt this marriage to bring you a football season.”

Wives of officials - as well as coaches - may rightfully post the same message.

Different, however, is that coaches have home games. National Football League officials are on the go for 17 weekends. Some even work Thursday nights, as Brad, Lindsay’s husband, did recently in Denver when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Broncos in overtime.

Little did she and husband, Brad, know when their 2000 marriage began in Roswell’s New Mexico Military Institute that it would eventually result in his being absent from their Lubbock home weekly to officiate NFL games. There are only 122 such officials; only 17 wear the white hats, signifying referee status. Watch for him on TV games; he’s number 126, honoring Lindsay’s Jan. 26 birthday.

His schedule requires careful planning, proven in his teaching - as well as in officiating - which began as a hobby.

Travel can be problematic, even nightmarish. Though getting flights from Lubbock on Friday afternoons is usually routine, sometimes returning flights can wreak havoc. If there are serious glitches, Brad sometimes misses connecting flights back to Lubbock. When necessary, Lindsay heads to DFW Airport so he can arrive promptly for his 9 a.m. class at Texas Tech. Doesn’t this stretch the “to love and to cherish” pledge to the limit?

When topics of travel arise, the couple remembers many unavoidable problems. Once, he and five others, all stranded in Dallas, missed their Lubbock flight, so they rented a van, splitting the cost.

Little did he know his steep climb to the NFL pinnacle would take so many turns, with officiating assignments that began with Lubbock Pop Warner games. Soon to come were junior high school games, followed by high school junior varsity contests. Then, it was on to junior colleges, four-year colleges (think Lone Star Conference), before major universities, including assignments in the Southeastern Conference.

Much water has passed under the bridge since the NFL beckoned in 2017.

Their courtship began at Lubbock Christian University in 1996, when Brad, a 1997 graduate, spotted a student worker whom he thought comely.

A full-time admissions worker, he asked her out. She declined, already committed to a date for Friday night.

What about lunch? That worked, as did a visit to the ice cream store after her date with the other guy.

They were smitten - soon to be engaged - but committed to honoring her parents’ wishes for her college graduation before marriage. If their match were not made in heaven in 2002, surely it was near the pearly gates.

Son of a preacher man, Hal (and Mrs.) Rogers, Brad can be forgiven for nightmares of moving vans.

His family moved numerous times over the years. Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Box of Roswell, New Mexico, Lindsay is an elementary school teacher. Brad and Lindsay Rogers have two daughters, both in college. They’re gradually becoming thicker skinned when they hear criticism of their referee dad.

Lindsay, her skin even thicker, once sat beside a leather-lunged fan who was screaming insults that would make sailors blush. Lindsay said, “When she learned that the object of her profanity was my husband, she settled down quite a bit.”

Brad, who once wore a rubber wet suit under his uniform during a game played in sub-zero conditions on a bitterly cold day, has pretty much heard it all. His skin is thickest of all, working 142 of 143 NFL games assigned. COVID canceled one.

He’s forgiving, of course, and considers 80-hour work weeks to be commonplace. When football season ends, he becomes a volunteer Lubbock Christian High School basketball coach.

I met this unashamedly Christian couple recently at Brownwood Kiwanis Club. His professionalism and integrity shone through; little wonder that NFL officials’ right calls occur 97.3% of the time.

At one game, President George W. Bush was chosen to flip the coin. Trouble was, he flipped it before the game captain called heads or tails. With TV cameras bearing down, Brad acted as though the coin had been momentarily fumbled. He picked it up, requesting a call be made before a second coin toss.

Dr. Newbury, retired educator, lives in the Metroplex. His website, with archived digital and audio columns, is www.speakerdoc.com. Phone: 817-447-3872. Email: newbury@speakerdoc.com.

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