Playing in the NFL for 15 years, former Falcons left tackle Bob Whitfield still lives and dies for football, watching his beloved Stanford Cardinal games on Saturdays from his home in Duluth and then on Sundays heading down to the Georgia Dome to see his former team in action.
Friday nights, however, he finds himself back on the field and not as a coach.
The 6-foot-5, 320-pounder some like to call “Head-butt Bob,’’ can be seen at any given metro Atlanta high school game, wearing stripes on shirt with a whistle in his mouth, officiating high school football games.
Say this for the big man, he still makes an impression when he is on the field.
“When I started a few years back I was an umpire, so I was right in the middle of the field,’’ he said. “I am still bigger than these high school linemen and I am making more tackles than the middle linebacker. I am so big, players would run into me. One kid hit me and said, ‘You OK?’ I said, ‘Kid, don’t worry about me, are you OK?’’’
Whitfield, whose son, Kodi, played at his alma mater, Stanford, said he loves officiating and at 45 plans to continue to do it for many years.
“I have a passion for it,’’ he said. “I love running out there and being close to the action. I like the pressure and after a few years of umpiring, now I am all over the field. I just have to be careful at times to get out of a player’s way.’’
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