Ray Highsmith

Ray Highsmith, born on June 17, 1933 in Colorado Spring, Colo., earned accolades as a prep basketball and baseball standout at Glendale High School in Southern California. Rather than sign a professional baseball contract out of high school, he elected to accept a scholarship to play pitch for the Stanford University baseball team, which he did from 1951-55.

After leaving the Air Force where he was a jet pilot, Highsmith and his wife moved to Tacoma to be near her family. Highsmith started his officiating career in 1965, working games for the South End Boys Club. He proceeded through the high school ranks and also had small college assignments, and in 1972 officiated his first Pacific-8 Conference game. He continued to officiate in major college football games as the Pac-8 became the Pac-10, finally forced to the sideline after 20 years by a mandatory age limit. Among his plum assignments were three USC versus Notre Dame games, a No. 1 USC versus No. 2 Oklahoma contest, and the 1983 Rose Bowl.

The latter was one of five postseason games in which he officiated. After leaving the field, Highsmith hooked up with the National Football League as an official timer, a position he held for 14 seasons. He worked the 2006 playoff game in Denver between the Broncos and New England Patriots before retiring.