Offsides! Paperback – August 1, 2001

Fred Wyant, who spent 19 of his 27 years in the NFL as a referee, gives the reader an inside the look at America's most popular sport. He lashes out at owners and coaches who allow players who perform on the field to abuse women, drugs and alcohol and break society's laws off the field. He asks: "Where are the role models today?" He criticizes the greed of owners who want the public to finance their stadiums, discusses the pros and cons of instant replay, the influence television has on officials, names the calls in a game that officials miss most and why, criticizes TV announcers who do not know the rules and mislead their viewers and dileniates how an officiating team works and how each member of the seven-man crew is challenged with more than 1,500 decisions in a game. The book is G-rated with no profanity and will appeal to children, women and sports fans of all ages. Author Rene A. Henry blends Wyant's experiences with more than 75 interviews of sors leaders including Mike Ditka, Don Shula, the late Tom Landry, Lou Holtz, Marv Levy, Chuck Noll, Johnny Unitas, Peter Ueberroth, Sam Huff, Kellen Winslow, Sonny Jurgensen, Bart Star, owners Michael Brown and Dan Rooney and referees Jim Tunney and Red Cashion. Read more