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I Top NFL Official Hails from UK  
  ' Dao 0 0s es   {  
  jim p ul Tak .
  Student Avocation tt.t i t   ·   x?
I T0 The Pinnacle { { f I     ’
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Next time you cheer or jeer the offi-   ``: '   V "‘j ` V      ;~ ,|
cials of the National Football League,       ( \   l   V   · ’ =  ·
you’ll have a Kentucky man to thank. @A V }     V` ·‘  * Q   . V 
_jim Daopoulos, a 1972 graduate and , WSJ     v:~e_   . V V V,     Qt V‘r¤· j 
former director of intramurals for the V 1 ° '-fgx 4 5 N A `  ` _ E 
University of Kentucky, became the V   . _ ggliw = , g_;;;_   gi .    
NFL’s top official july 1. As supervisor V   K] , . i ‘~’` V,/ V_ VJ     i 
of officials, Daopoulos now oversees   V ,  VL"l , ` ’V' VV ( V V       2;* § _§  
the hiring, training and assigning ofV V ,-  `• Q j   G ` V . é .  
football oflrcrals. He rs also responsible   4 _  ..    
for reviewing and assisting the league  i     =-= —~ Q"“?i‘_  V__V ·; gg   ` gi
with game rules and policy.   IT"   QYYV    1 Q? f V:    l j
"\X/hen I officiated the Super Bowl ,.  .    VV _ V \ f ,  f  5  ‘ l
two years ago, I thought I'd reached the ~. fw     ~·  i "  I V    . ‘   »· ` 
pinnacle as an official. That is the ulti—   _,  i ° ’?  l ji I  
mate experience an official can have,"     K   . .   ‘ ‘
Daopoulos said. "But, being the super-  _- —i  '   ·.  Q "' , .
visor of officials is one step higher." -~ ’  " ‘ * .   Z V 
Daopoulos was approached by the   ¤.,   .,_.,.ei     ,    — . 
league in january about becoming the ,   n . V
official supervisor. He took nearly six ,?,   _ , . __..- .- , `I *~ ·"‘ ‘ " l , 
months to accept the offer. The job { i     y- ___, _ V el V
would move his family to New York, * -»——· -· »~· · · ·`·* ·1··nV_ ”' ‘    
and would take him off the field after   _ ew V
1I years of NFL officiating. ' ‘
Ml Wils WW WPPY uml €9mf01T¤l)l€ jim Daopoulos 72 calls Szzpe¢BowlXXX1I1 in 1999. This plum assigrzmenr is the
in my lllbfl ll€ Simi "I ih0U§%hl I WOUl€l reward/or outslaiulmg ogiciafivrg in the National Football League. .
be on the field _
ze fel. 10 years gan during his years as an undergradu- ence for seven years. Then he was I l
    mole I WMM ate at the University of Kentucky. Trans- called up to the NFL. i
i`i  lr in Sure if I was ferring to UK from junior college where "Early on, I’d set the goal of officiat- ·
    { is "?  ready [O leave he played sports, Daopoulos began ing in the NFL," he said. “But I never T {
1*   V °     the j·iejCj_·· playing, and then officiating, intramur— thought I would get there." .
 . `f{V;, ‘ VV -' V_ '  2 , In Mjdj[i(mV als. "I’d just gotten married, and we Over the years, Daopoulos has re- `
¤ ‘t  ’ ‘ V ` Djmpeujos WM needed the money," he said. "Initially, I mained active with UK, as an instructor l
‘ . _V,jV »_tjVV* ,1 Sueeessfuj ,.ep_ officiated to supplement our income? and as the namesake of a new award .
    V? ,.eSemmVe {O,. F he avocatron 1Ved to a vocatron.VHe given annually by UK Intramurals —
,VV _ ~     Nom, Amerieim earned a bachelors degree in physical the jim Daopoulos Outstanding Intra-
5 ‘»·  ’  ‘`   I I Mmmuge in Ci,} education in 1970 and his rnaster’s in mural Official Award. j
ei,.m,mV He and his wife Lmzjui 2, Seheej recreation administration in 1972. From He said he will miss teaching at the V
teacher, had lived in Kentucky for more 1972 [O 1977· hs S€w€Cl as