Editor's note: This is the eighth in a series of stories on the 2021 inductees to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies are Aug. 28 in Natchitoches.
Read Terry McAulay’s Twitter feed (@tjmcaulay) and you’ll discover that he is:
• A high-level foodie (he recently achieved what he called the “holy grail” after years of creating homemade rib rubs);
• A devoted animal rescuer (the mostly-chihuahua Bartok is constantly under foot in the McAulay household and rules the roost among five rescue dogs);
• A connoisseur of ‘70s music (“I’ve grown to like some ‘80s music,” he confessed, “but definitely nothing after 1990”).
Rarely on that Twitter feed are there mentions of football officiating, where McAulay reached the pinnacle of his chosen field, or his more-recent ventures as part of the announce crew for the most popular show on television.
Granted, there’s another feed under his name that is wall-to-wall officiating analysis and all things football, and that’s by design.
The distinct separation provides an insight into McAulay, an indication that he's an individual who is precise, highly motivated, has great communication skills and is a taskmaster with high expectations.
“He’s demanding and he’s tough,” said Greg Gautreaux, fellow Louisiana product and a longtime NFL official. “He expects a lot out of his crew, but he also gets the most out of officials he works with. He helped me really grow as an official.”
There’s a cliché that in sports officiating — especially on the NFL level in America’s most popular sport — you have to start out perfect and then you have to get better.
It’s an impossible goal, but over a 20-year career in the NFL and in the years of college and high school officiating before that, McAulay came closer than anyone.
For years, many of his peers singled him out as the best of the white-hats (which only the referee wears).
That’s the reason the Hammond native and LSU graduate is being honored with the Dave Dixon Sports Leadership Award and will be enshrined in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday in Natchitoches.
McAulay retired from on-field officiating in June 2018 and is now an on-air rules expert and officiating evaluator for NBC Sports’ “Sunday Night Football.” He also works that network’s Notre Dame telecasts.
The jump to the booth at the age of 58 came as a surprise to many, especially those in NFL inner circles who were accustomed to McAulay’s high level of on-field work.
He had earned selection as referee for eight conference championships and three Super Bowls — only one referee in NFL history has worked more — and the consensus was more top assignments were on the way.
“It was difficult,” McAulay said. “I had to do a lot of thinking, but it was such an amazing opportunity. … I knew if I turned it down, that opportunity wasn’t going to be available again.”
Don’t assume that McAulay wouldn’t have been happy heading up an NFL crew for many more years.
“There’s not enough stories out there about the good people in the game,” he said. “It’s unfortunate and it’s part of our society in general that the negative is focused on.
“But the players, almost to a man, were terrific to work with. They get emotional in emotional situations, but I thought they were wonderful to work with. There are very few people in the NFL that I wouldn’t love to have as neighbors.”
McAulay was raised by his mother in Hammond, the youngest of four children in what was not an easy upbringing.
He officiated everything in sight — prep football, basketball, flag and peewee football — while still in high school to bring in income.
His love of officiating continued after graduating from LSU when he moved to Maryland for what became a 26-year stint as a computer programmer and software engineer with the National Security Agency.
By then, McAulay had worked his way into college officiating — starting in NCAA Division III before moving on to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1994.
By 1998, he was in the NFL. After three years working on game crews, he was promoted to referee in 2001 and a year later was assigned to his first conference championship game.
McAulay was the crew chief for Super Bowl XXXIX between New England and Philadelphia, becoming the first to draw a Super Bowl assignment with fewer than five seasons as a referee. He also was the referee for Super Bowls XLIII and XLVIII.
“The Super Bowl is the pinnacle of every official’s career,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get there, but it’s quite an experience.
"It’s unbelievably satisfying that somebody felt I earned the right to be in that position.”
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August 24, 2021 at 04:00PM
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'White hat' was a perfect fit for LSU grad Terry McAulay, whose officiating expertise still sparkles - The Advocate
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