Walt Anderson (American football)
Walt Anderson (* 1952 in DeFuniak Springs, Florida) is an American dentist and American football referee in the National Football League. It has been used since the 1996 NFL season as a referee. Initially he was linesman, he has the 2003 NFL season with the main referee shirt number 66, he was one of the line judges of Super Bowl XXXV. This was held on January 28, 2001 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. On February 6, 2011 he was the head referee of the Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
Personal
Walt Anderson was born in 1952 in DeFuniak Springs. He grew up in Channelview on where his father was a high school football coach was. In the team his father, he played as a quarterback. He received in 1974 at the Sam Houston State University with a BA. During his time at the Sam Houston he was as a quarterback twice All-American. In 1978 he earned his doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin. He was then working as a dentist. When he was appointed in 2003 to the main referee in the NFL, he closed his practice in Sugar Land to be able to devote the whole NFL. On 26 April 2006, he was appointed referee coordinator of the Big 12 conference.
He is married to Afshan. Together with her he has one child. Both have 2 children from previous marriages. They live in Sugar Land.
Career as a referee
After his playing career, he decided to remain faithful to the football. He decided to take the referee career. He headed games of junior high and high school as well as some games of university teams. These included games of the Lone Star Conference, the Southland Conference and the Southwest Athletic Conference. He was eventually discovered by NFL scouts and appointed referee in the NFL.
In his first season he was employed as a linesman. In 2003 he was finally main referee. At Super Bowl XXXV, he was involved as a linesman in Main referee Gerald Austin. This he described as the most memorable game of his career so far.
From the NFL, he was appointed Chief Judge for the Super Bowl XLV.