IT’S FOURTH DOWN and goal on the 8-yard line. Down by a touchdown with just 1:27 to go, the coach has no choice but to go for it. The quarterback scrambles, being chased by tacklers, and finally manages to get a pass off to one of his wide receivers in the corner of the end zone. The receiver dives, catching the ball on his fingertips, and lands out of bounds. But were both his feet in bounds when he made the catch? The official must decide – was it a touchdown, or was he out of bounds? The game’s outcome hinges on the official’s call.

It’s the final day of a grueling criminal trial. The prosecution’s key witness has just given an unexpected response to one of defense counsel’s questions, a response that could open a line of questioning that could help the defendant – or could seal his fate. Does the attorney press forward with the issue, hoping for a positive outcome? Or does he play it safe and move on to another matter, leaving behind the potential opportunity?

Believe it or not, these situations are not that different from one another, according to Jim Gleason, an attorney by trade and Division I college football official by avocation. Gleason, a trial attorney with a solo practice in Henniker, is the first-ever official from NH to make it to the prestigious ranks of Division I officials.

Gleason said he got involved in officiating because he "always liked sports – a lot." Growing up in Michigan, he was an avid athlete, which included playing football in both high school and at Northern Michigan University.

After college, Gleason began attending law school in Michigan when he met his future wife, Kathleen, who is from Maine. When she decided to return to New England, he went with her, transferring to Franklin Pierce Law Center, where he earned his law degree in 1978. He was admitted to the NH Bar the same year.

Gleason married, he and his wife started a family and he began his law career. About 20 years ago, he decided to turn his love of sports into an avocation by officiating high school and college lacrosse games and, eventually, football.

Officiating, Gleason said, is "outrageously competitive." The best referees are promoted from youth football games to high school games to Division III college games, then Division II, and finally Division I. At each level, the field is narrowed down to the best officials. "They weed you out pretty quickly," he said.

Gleason has been a Division I official for the past four years in the Atlantic 10 Conference, which is based in Philadelphia and includes such schools as the University of NH, UMass-Amherst, the University of Maine, the University of Rhode Island, Northeastern, the University of Richmond, Hofstra and the University of Delaware.

Being a college football official is much more intense and time-consuming than you would think, according to Gleason. It doesn’t mean heading to a game on a Saturday afternoon for a couple hours of watching football. "Officiating really is a kind of sport. It’s not just standing around on a football field," he said. "When you get to the college level, the athletes are bigger, stronger, faster and you have to keep up with the action."

For Gleason, football season starts in February, when officials begin taking tests every two weeks until May, for a total of 20 exams that test their football and officiating knowledge. "The tests are surprisingly difficult. You have to have exceptional knowledge of the game," he said.

In the last week of July, officials attend a four-day clinic, which Gleason described as "four intense days" of film review, rule work, studying plays, physical conditioning tests and agility drills, as well as taking more exams. There are also weekly exams for officials during the season – if an official doesn’t do well on the exams, his contract may be terminated. "The pressure (of officiating) surprised me," Gleason said.

Gleason’s first game of the season this year was on Labor Day weekend. He has had a game nearly every weekend since, travelling as far south as North Carolina and as far north as Orono, Maine. Officials are required to arrive in the host city the night before a game for two hours of film study, in which they review prior plays, good/bad calls and other game issues. On game day, officials are required to get to the stadium three-and-a-half hours prior to kickoff for a pre-game conference, in which they cover the mechanics of the game, team styles of play and other matters. An hour and a half before the game, they meet with head coaches to discuss the mechanics of the game and to address the coaches’ concerns, such as how television timeouts will be handled, for example. Then comes the game. "It’s a much bigger time commitment than you’d think," said Gleason.

But in his practice of law, Gleason has found that court officials and fellow attorneys have been understanding of the commitment he has to officiating, often re-scheduling meetings or hearings to accommodate last-minute changes in his travel schedule. "There are lots of situations when my opponents have me over a barrel and could take advantage of (my scheduling conflicts), but they don’t do it. There has been a lot of talk about keeping professionalism and civility alive in the New Hampshire Bar – I say it’s alive and well," he said.

Gleason runs a general trial practice, doing both civil and criminal work. He said that there are many parallels between being a trial lawyer and football official: the pressure, the need to make split-second decisions, the fact that much hangs in the balance with each call. "I find that the two professions complement each other. Football officiating has made me a better trial lawyer and vice versa," he said.

[The two professions] boost your confidence to the point where when you have to make the tough calls, you do," said Gleason. "To me there is virtually no difference between the two – we just wear a different uniform."

Gleason also uses the same skills to handle an angry coach on the sidelines as he does to calm an upset client. "You have a coach on the sidelines going ballistic over a call. How is it any different from a client yelling, ‘I didn’t do it, you have to get me out of this!’? You learn to defuse situations," he said.

Gleason said he certainly isn’t in officiating for the money; it is an avocation that he truly enjoys. He encourages other attorneys to pursue outside interests, pointing to the courtesy and consideration he’s received from fellow Bar members when it comes to his side job.

Gleason said one of the most enjoyable – and refreshing – aspects of officiating for him is seeing the class and sportsmanship displayed by the scholar/athletes of the Atlantic 10 Conference. "Under heated battle conditions, these kids still show class and professionalism. As a parent (of four) and a sports official, that’s nice to see," he said.

As the first-ever Division I football official from New Hampshire, Gleason has endured some scrutiny. He believes that in the past, naysayers discounted NH as being far from a football hotbed, but with a NH school in Division I (UNH) and a NH attorney working as an official, he’s hoping that attitude is changing. He also hopes that he’s broken the ice for any other NH officials looking to move up the ranks. "It would be nice if I’ve helped pave the way for someone from New Hampshire who’s interested in this avocation," he said.

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