FOR USE AS DESIRED
            NFL-23              5/14/02

 

MC ELWEE WINS INAUGURAL ART MC NALLY AWARD FOR OFFICIALS

BOB MC ELWEE, a 26-year NFL official who has refereed in three Super Bowls, is the winner of the first ART MC NALLY AWARD, NFL Commissioner PAUL TAGLIABUE announced today.

The McNally Award was created this year by Commissioner Tagliabue to honor annually an NFL game official who exhibits exemplary professionalism, leadership and commitment to sportsmanship on and off the field.

The winner was selected by Commissioner Tagliabue and the NFL Officiating Department.  The 2002 award was presented today to McElwee at the annual meeting of referees, NFL head coaches and coordinators at the NFL Spring Meeting in Houston, Texas.   

“Art McNally truly represented the qualities that are inscribed on the award,” says Tagliabue.  “His dedication to the game and his professionalism and class on and off the field set the standard.”

After an on-field career as an NFL field judge and referee from 1959-67, McNally headed the NFL’s Officiating Department from 1968-90.  He was Supervisor of Officials from 1968-88, and Director of Officiating from 1989-90.  Since 1996, he has served the NFL as an assistant supervisor of officials during the season. 

McElwee has been officiating football for 41 years, and began in the NFL in 1976. 

He headed the officiating crew for Super Bowls XXII, XXVIII and XXXIV, and has officiated in numerous playoff games.

McElwee graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1957, where he was a linebacker on Navy’s Sugar Bowl championship team in 1955.  After graduation, he served in the Navy as a pilot and utilities engineer, and played service football for three years after flight training.

He is a partner in the McElwee Group, a firm specializing in construction of water filtration and waste water treatment plants for municipalities and private industry. 

McElwee is heavily involved in community service near his home in Haddonfield, New Jersey. 

He is co-founder of Renew, an inner-city non-profit organization dedicated to providing housing for the disadvantaged in Camden, New Jersey.  He has received, along with former U.S. Senator BILL BRADLEY, an Outstanding Citizenship Award from the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association for contributions to the leadership development of the youth of New Jersey.

McElwee received the March of Dimes Citizen of the Year Award in 1993, and has worked on fund-raising efforts for the American Red Cross.