Ron Botchan Ronald Leslie " Ron " Botchan ( born February 15 , 1935 in Brooklyn , New York ) is a retired American football official from the National Football League ( NFL ) . Prior to that he was an American football linebacker in the American Football League from 1960 to 1962 . As an official , Botchan worked as an umpire for nearly his entire NFL career and wore the number 110 . Regarded as the " NFL ' s best umpire " by the media , Botchan was assigned to a record - number five Super Bowl s : XX in 1986 , XXVII in 1993 , XXIX in 1995 , XXXI in 1997 , and XXXIV in 2000 . He was also an alternate in Super Bowl XXVI in 1992 , and Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 . He rapidly ascended to the NFL ranks after nine years of officiating high school and college games and attributes his success to being " coachable " . High School and College Record . Botchan played linebacker at Belmont High School and later at Occidental College in Los Angeles , California . At Occidental , Botchan was a teammate to Jack Kemp and Jim Mora ; and was a collegiate All - Conference baseball player and an All - Conference and Little All - American linebacker . Professional career . NFL player . Botchan was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1957 , but went to play football in the United States Marine Corps . He was selected to the All - Marine and All - Service teams playing linebacker for the Marine Corps Base Quantico and Camp Lejune teams . In 1960 , Botchan was approached by scouts of the new upstart American Football League ( AFL ) and signed a contract for $ 6 , 000 to play for the Los Angeles Chargers under head coach Sid Gillman as a starting linebacker . Ron signed with the Houston Oilers the next year only to have his football playing career ended due to a knee injury . He played in the first two American Football League Championship Games , losing the first with the Chargers vs . the Oilers , and winning the second when the Oilers again defeated the Chargers in the 1961 AFL Championship . Coaching . After his playing days ended , Botchan took up coaching football . From 1966 to 1972 , Ron built the Los Angeles City College team into a winning program that included several league championships . NFL official . Botchan ' s officiating career began in 1972 after moving away from coaching and until 1976 was working high school and junior college football games . He was assigned two games as an umpire in the Pac - 10 between 1976 and 1979 before applying and being accepted to the NFL in 1980 . In 1980 , Botchan joined the NFL as a line judge because no openings were available as an umpire . As a rookie , he received a rare opportunity to officiate a playoff game due to having a successful season . Historically , rookie officials in the NFL do not participate in the playoffs . An opportunity opened up for Botchan the following year at the umpire position , which he accepted , and stayed for the remainder of his career in the league . His last game was a National Football Conference ( NFC ) Championship Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and St . Louis Rams on January 27 , 2002 and his final appearance was at Super Bowl XXXVI on February 3 , 2002 as an alternate official . Botchan currently serves as an assistant supervisor of officials for the NFL .