Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Once a week during football season, Circuit Judge William D. Broadhurst trades his black robe for zebra stripes to work as a referee for college football games. The jurist who sits on the bench in Roanoke on weekdays can be found Saturday afternoons on his feet on a gridiron with a whistle in his hand.

It’s a sideline that Broadhurst has maintained for more than 20 years. He says he was encouraged to officiate at high school football games by Roanoke Commonwealth’s Attorney Don Caldwell. He even worked sandlot games for recreational leagues.

These days, Broadhurst is overseeing games in the Colonial Athletic Association, the Patriot League and the Ivy League. He served as a CAA referee Sept. 13 at UR Stadium in Richmond as the University of Richmond Spiders hosted the Tigers of Towson University.

For Broadhurst, officiating football is a counterbalance to his judicial duties. “It’s a nice break from all of this,” he said, looking around at the files and law books in his courthouse office. “It’s so very different.”

The principal contrast, Broadhurst said, is working with a team. As a circuit judge, he has to call the shots alone. As a member of the officiating crew, there is a sense of teamwork and collaboration.

The spirit of college football provides a refreshing change of attitude, Broadhurst added.

“It’s easy to ignore a lot of the good things that go on in this country,” he said. “Lately, there seems to be a cultural expectation that we’re all entitled to everything. But these people are out there with old time values of hard work, cooperation, teamwork.”

Clearly, Broadhurst admires his colleagues in stripes. “I get to work with great guys, some of the finest men I’ve ever known.”

Furthermore, a football game is a pretty fun place to be on a Saturday in the fall. “Being around college football is a neat atmosphere, with the fanfare, enthusiasm, fans yelling back and forth,” Broadhurst said.

Lately, however, more of the yelling from the stands and the sidelines is directed at the officials. The abuse has been pronounced this season and there has been a crackdown on players’ celebrations by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

“The NCAA and the fans expect college football to be more than just a battle,” Broadhurst said. He said that the NCAA has made it a “point of emphasis” to crack down on attention-getting behavior and taunting of the opposing team.

That new emphasis means a lot of flags for finger pointing and other exuberant end zone behavior that might have gone without penalty in the past, and those flags bring criticism from coaches and fans.

The catcalls usually are left on the field, however, and Broadhurst said he has never been challenged on a call back at the courthouse. “Nobody knows what I do,” he said.

A former high school center, Broadhurst works out to stay in shape, although he claims that his running has turned into jogging of late. “We keep getting older and the kids keep staying 20,” he laments. Nevertheless, Broadhurst had no trouble keeping up with Spiders defensive back Justin Rogers as he broke free to run an interception back for a touchdown on Sept. 13.

The officiating “job” (technically, officials are independent contractors) is not cushy. It involves shared hotel rooms, pre-season “training camps” each year, and criticism from league officials who scrutinize game videos.

Broadhurst makes it clear that working as a referee is an enjoyable diversion, not a source of extra income. “It’s a good hobby, a good avocation,” he said. “It’s not lucrative.”

Broadhurst explained that officiating crews have to be at the site of their game the day before the contest, and must cover their own travel expenses. “I made maybe $1,000 last year. I think I lost money for the two years before,” he said.

Broadhurst showed no signs of wanting to give up the stripes. “I just enjoy being around it all,” he said.

Roanoke’s Caldwell refs, too

Judge William Broadhurst is not the only legal leader in Roanoke who wears stripes on the weekend. Roanoke Commonwealth’s Attorney Don Caldwell is a long-time high school football official, working an area that extends for about 50 miles around Roanoke.

“I played football in high school and college and have always enjoyed the games,” Caldwell said. “It’s good to see the kids out there on Friday night trying to do something positive, whether its football, band, cheerleading, or the dancing squad.”

Caldwell urged Broadhurst to join the officiating crews and recalls working the sidelines with him on Broadhurst’s first venture.

When the whistle blew to start play, Caldwell said, “He instinctively broke down into a stance like a linebacker. I thought he was going to tackle the fellow.”

“He’s come a long way since then,” Caldwell added.

Caldwell said he believes the humility Broadhurst gains from working football games “improves his perspective on the bench.”

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