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The hits keep coming for one NFL official

Sporting News, The, Oct 28, 2005 by Paul Attner

Two months after NFL umpire Garth DeFelice gave us first-person insight into what it's like to be a game official standing amid all the on-field turmoil (TSN, August 5), he became a star of highlight reels in Week 5.

DeFelice, who was working the Redskins-Broncos game, got trampled during a fourth quarter run and was tossed backward, hitting his head on the wet grass of Invesco Field at Mile High. The result: a mild concussion, a really sore neck and, later, lots of concerned calls from friends who saw replays on television.

But he missed just three plays. "You've got to get a better shot than that to keep me out," he says, laughing.

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DeFelice, positioned in the middle of the field, just behind the defensive line, saw the running play coming toward him and stepped back to avoid the pack. It was a mistake.

"I should have stepped forward," he says. "All I could do was brace for the hit. I thought they would bounce off me." But someone stepped on his shoe--it came off--and he lost his balance and fell backward. Then the pack landed on him and turned him over. He lay in a daze. "I started taking inventory, and everything seemed OK," he says. "But they wouldn't let me up. Finally (referee) Pete Morelli told me to leave."

DeFelice passed a quick medical exam from Broncos doctors and returned. "I was pretty dazed for five minutes, but I never was unconscious. ... I had my wits about me. I helped in discussions about penalties. I was fine."

He went to his doctor a couple of days after the game and received clearance to keep officiating. "I was kind of out of it for a few days," he says. "It was scary, but it goes with the territory. I always tell people I am too stubborn to stop doing this job. I guess this just confirms it."

Colts WR Reggie Wayne

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The hits keep coming for one NFL official

Sporting News, The, Oct 28, 2005 by Paul Attner

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