Remembering the Founding Father of Officiating

Adam Markowitz
Tuesday May 21, 2019

Referees don't get a heck of a lot of love in sports. We usually only look up their names when we think they blew a call or when we want to let them know from the stands what we think about their vision. If you know a ref's name, that's probably a bad thing.

Thus most of you reading this probably have no clue who Carl Paganelli was, nor did it register on your radar when the news broke on Tuesday morning that he had passed away at the age of 82. But ask anyone who has donned the zebra outfit in most any form of football over the course of the last six decades, and you'll probably find that they have ties to the man they called "Pags."

Paganelli bounced all over the world – literally – to officiate the game he loved. Paganelli either directly officiated or was some sort of officiating supervisor in the USFL, the World League, the XFL and of course, the AFL here in the United States. But his reach was worldwide, having run clinics and been in supervisory roles in various football leagues in China, Serbia, Hungary and Italy. At the collegiate level, Paganelli worked with officials in the Big 10 and Pac-12, and he served as the head of officials for the MAC for a number of years.

The Paganelli name is synonymous with football officials, and the apple didn't fall far from the tree. His three sons, Perry, Carl Jr. and Dino all officiated in the AFL and graduated to becoming referees in the NFL. Carl Jr. was the umpire in ArenaBowls XI and XII before taking up a post in the NFL that he has had since 1999. Carl Jr. and Dino became the first pair of brothers to officiate a Super Bowl together in the NFL, doing so at Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

But there was far more to the elder Paganelli than just some good officiating genes.

Paganelli became a mentor of hundreds of future officials, particularly in the West Michigan area where he spent the better part of six decades. This earned him the unofficial title of the "founding father of officials" in the Grand Rapids area. His work with the West Michigan Officials Association and his accomplishments on the field earned him a spot in the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame.

Carl Paganelli (right) standing on the Great Wall of China with the rest of the officiating crew of the AFL China test game in Beijing in 2013.

This quote prior to Paganelli's induction speech to the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame summed up his career perfectly.

"So many people have played an important part in my officiating career, I feel that it is my job to return to the younger officials – and even the veteran officials – all the knowledge that I have gained throughout my career," said Paganelli.

Paganelli was also inducted in the AFL Hall of Fame in 2013, becoming the seventh man to join the Hall of Fame as a contributor. He also won the Founder's Award in 1995.

I was fortunate enough to spend a couple weeks with Paganelli with AFL China in 2013. In and amongst all of the guys in their 20s and 30s who were on that trip, Paganelli stood out as a lot more than just the old guy on the trip. He was sneakily funny and wasn't afraid to make a joke, and he always told it like it was.

And when it came time to get on the field, Pags was right there, busting his butt alongside all of the young whippersnappers and enforcing the rules at the ripe age of 76.

Even beyond that, Paganelli was still involved in officiating in the AFL. He continued to travel all across the country to AFL games as the supervisor of officials as late as 2017 and continues to have an impact today on many of the league's top zebras.

"In all my dealings with Carl, he was always an official's boss," said current AFL official, Ken Leffle. "He would back you to the moon when correct or kick your butt if you were wrong. You never had to figure out where you stood with him. He was a man's man."

Multiple refs told me the same story of Paganelli, saying that he'd call you up and say that it's "Carl T. Paganelli" on the line.

The officials all joked that the "T" stood for "trouble" when Pags introduced himself as such.

Yet every interaction I ever saw between Paganelli and another official was remarkably similar. He was spoken to like a peer but respected like a father figure. He was firm, yet he had a way of coming off both as stark and sincere at the same time. He truly gave a damn about getting every single call on the field as right as possible, but he knew that this was just a game and that there were always bigger callings in life.

"[Paganelli] was an absolutely fantastic human being and supervisor. He was a true leader," said current AFL referee, Dave Cutaia. "He could correct any mistake you made, but he always cared about you and ask about how the family was."

"It was always 'Family #1, Friends #2, Football #3' to Carl."

In my future conversations with Paganelli, he always struck me as a man who knew what his role was and embraced it. He once said to me that the best job he and his crews could do was make it so the fans didn't even know they were on the field.

And that's why you probably don't know who Carl Paganelli was. But allow me to assure you that you missed out on a great man who had a tremendous impact on the art of officiating football games, not just here in the AFL, but across the entire spectrum of football worldwide. He will surely be missed.

Click Here to hear an interview ArenaFan's Tim Capper had with Paganelli on AFL Tonight from June 2014.

Click Here to view ArenaFan's tribute to Carl Paganelli in pictures