PELL CITY — It’s Iron Bowl week, and everyone in Alabama is making predictions about "the big game" on the Plains Saturday between Alabama and Auburn, including one Southeastern Conference football referee.Referee Steve Shaw, 46, spoke to the Pell City Rotary Club this week about his demanding, high-pressure job on the gridiron and what’s ahead for Alabama and Auburn fans.
"It’s an exciting time in the state," Shaw said. "I hope the fans can keep it in perspective. … When it’s over some will be disappointed, others will be elated."
And that’s the way it is with college football in the Heart of Dixie.
Shaw said the Auburn-Alabama game is one of the best college football rivalries and with both teams ranked high in the polls, Saturday’s game at Jordan-Hare Stadium will be even more exciting.
Shaw, who played football at Hoover High School, said he entered the world of making calls between the uprights because he wanted to stay around the game, but now his job is more about relationships he’s formed with coaches, players and other officials involved with college football.
"I love to do it," he said.
Shaw said SEC referees take their jobs seriously.
"It’s a tough job. We work hard to get it right," said Shaw, who is beginning his 10th full season as an SEC football referee. "We put a lot of time and effort to be 100 percent accurate, but nobody’s perfect."
He said the addition of instant replay is good for the game.
Shaw said since instant replay became a part of college football, his crew of seven referees has had only two calls overturned.
He said SEC referees are constantly evaluating their work, and game films are reviewed and graded each week by the conference office.
But Shaw said even the simplest things can go wrong on the college football field.
He recalled an opening coin toss at a Mississippi State-Florida game.
The Bulldogs won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Florida player chose for his team to make the opening kickoff instead of receiving the ball.
"I told him, ‘you can receive,’" Shaw said. "I asked him four times. … Midway through the first quarter, I broke the news to Coach (Steve) Spurrier that he was going to kick both halves."
He said the former Gator coach, who is now head football coach at South Carolina, wasn’t too happy about the news.
Shaw said later in the game, the Mississippi State captain approached him about the opening coin toss.
"He said, ‘I’m sure glad you didn’t ask him again. I was sure he was going to change his mind,’" Shaw said.
In another coin toss between Florida and Southern Mississippi, Florida won the toss and elected to receive.
"I asked the Southern Mississippi player, ‘Which goal do you want to defend?’" Shaw said.
The player said, "We’ll defend the north goal."
"I said, just point to the goal," Shaw said.
"I don’t know, the coach just said we’ll defend the North goal," the player responded.
"I had to call upstairs to find out which was the North goal," Shaw said.
He also told funny stories about run-ins with SEC head football coaches through the years.
He recalled last year’s national championship game between USC and Oklahoma, which Shaw’s referee crew officiated.
Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville was interviewed at halftime by the television station broadcasting the national championship game, because Auburn went undefeated but was left out of the national championship picture.
During the halftime interview, Tuberville praised the officiating by SEC referees at the game.
Shaw said the Auburn boss approached him during the break.
"He said, ‘Steve, ya’ll are doing a great job,’" Shaw recalled Tuberville remarking.
But Tuberville wasn’t going to miss a golden opportunity, since he had the ref’s ear.
"Why don’t ya’ll do it in my games?" Tuberville added.
Shaw also talked about the 1996 Iron Bowl at Legion Field in Birmingham.
Shaw can’t referee Crimson Tide games, since he’s a University of Alabama graduate. He was acting as a liaison between the referees and the television station broadcasting the game.
He said it was the fourth quarter with only 2 minutes left on the clock. Alabama had to drive 70 yards to win the game.
"They had a big third-down play," Shaw recalled.
But the yellow hanky hit the ground. The Crimson Tide was called for holding.
Shaw said one of the referees went to the sideline to tell former Alabama football coach Gene Stallings that one of his players was caught holding.
"Coach Stallings said, ‘You go tell Steve Shaw that was a heck of a time to call holding,’" Stallings told the referee.
The referee relayed Stallings’ feelings about the call to Shaw, who sent back a reply.
"You go tell Coach Stallings that was a heck of a time to hold," Shaw said.
He said it was the first time he had ever seen Stallings smile about a call made against his team.
Shaw talked passionately about his profession and college football. Stories flowed from the podium for 30 minutes as Shaw captured the attention of those attending the Rotary Club luncheon.
He did not stumble once, until after he left the podium and was asked to predict the outcome of the game between the Crimson Tide and Tigers.
It’s Iron Bowl week and with Shaw’s knowledge of the game and the teams, he certainly would be a person with good insight of what’s to come Saturday afternoon.
So, what is your prediction of the outcome of the Alabama and Auburn game, Shaw was asked.
The SEC referee paused for a few seconds and smiled.
"My prediction is there will not be any overturned calls," Shaw said. "I’m pulling for the referees."
