Hamer eyes 23rd year in NFL

This is the fourth in a series on the 2001 Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame Class to be honored at the eighth annual banquet Friday, June 29, at California University.

Quick now, which area man has appeared in the most NFL games?

The answer: Fairhope's Dale Hamer.

Hamer, 63, is getting ready for his 23rd year as a NFL official.

Hamer, who wears No. 104, will be in his eighth year as a referee after 14 years as a head linesman.

Hamer has worked two Super Bowls as a head linesman and refereed one AFC Conference championship game.

He had to sit out the 1995 campaign after undergoing open heart surgery for a defective valve.

Before breaking into the NFL, Hamer officiated high school football and basketball games for nearly two decades.

Hamer followed in the footsteps of his uncle, Jim, who officiated in the NFL and was inducted into the Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 1953.

Besides working on the field, he was president for three years (1996-99) of the Professional Football Referee Association and edits the group's newsletter, 'The Official Word.'

A graduate of Bellmar High (1955) and California University (1960), Hamer returned to his college alma mater for three years in the mid-1990s as the school's interim alumni director.

Hamer was honored with the prestigious Michael Duda Award in 1988 and eight years later was inducted in the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.