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{{Short description|American football player, coach, and official (1935–2021)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name          = Ron Botchan
| image         = Ron Botchan 1961.jpg
| number        = 54, 37
| position      = [[Linebacker]]
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1935|2|15}}
| birth_place   = [[Brooklyn|Brooklyn, New York]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2021|1|28|1935|2|15}}
| death_place   = [[California]], U.S.
| height_ft     = 6
| height_in     = 1
| weight_lbs    = 238
| high_school   = [[Belmont High School (Los Angeles)|Belmont]]<br>([[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]])
| college       = [[Occidental Tigers football|Occidental]]
| undraftedyear =
| pastteams     =
* [[Los Angeles Chargers]] (1960)
* [[Houston Oilers]] (1961)
| pastcoaching  =
* [[North Hollywood High School|North Hollywood HS (CA)]] (1965)<br>Head coach
* [[Los Angeles City Cubs football|Los Angeles City]] (1966–1971)<br>Head coach
* [[Cal State Northridge Matadors football|Valley State]] (spring 1972)<br>Assistant coach
| highlights    =
* [[American Football League|AFL]] champion ([[1961 American Football League Championship Game|1961]])
| pfr           = B/BotcRo20 
}}

'''Ronald Leslie Botchan''' (February 15, 1935 – January 28, 2021) was an [[American football]] player, coach, and official. He played professionally as a [[linebacker]] in the [[American Football League]] (AFL) from 1960 to 1962. As an official, Botchan worked as an [[Umpire (American football)|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: [[Super Bowl XX|XX]] in 1986, [[Super Bowl XXVII|XXVII]] in 1993, [[Super Bowl XXIX|XXIX]] in 1995, [[Super Bowl XXXI|XXXI]] in 1997, and [[Super Bowl XXXIV|XXXIV]] in 2000. He was also an alternate in [[Super Bowl XXVI]] in 1992, and [[Super Bowl XXXVI]] in 2002. He ascended to the NFL ranks after nine years of officiating high school and college games.

==Early life and college==
Botchan played [[linebacker]] at [[Belmont High School (Los Angeles)|Belmont High School]] and later at [[Occidental College]] in [[Los Angeles, California]]. At Occidental, Botchan was a teammate to [[Jack Kemp]] and [[Jim E. Mora|Jim Mora]]; and was a collegiate All-Conference [[baseball]] player and an All-Conference and Little [[All-American]] linebacker.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Occidental Players/Alumni |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/schools/occidental/index.htm |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Professional career==
===NFL playing career===
Botchan was drafted by the [[History of the Indianapolis Colts|Baltimore Colts]] in [[1957 NFL season|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 AFL season|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. Botchan 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 [[Professional American football championship games|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 career===
In 1965, Botchan was hired as the head football coach at [[North Hollywood High School]] in [[Los Angeles]], succeeding [[Doug Gerhart]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Kokon |first=Pete |title=[Untitled] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/valley-times/146728293/ |newspaper=Valley Times |location=[[North Hollywood, Los Angeles|North Hollywood, California]] |date=May 19, 1965 |page=27 |access-date=May 7, 2024 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref> The following year, he took on the same role at [[Los Angeles City College]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Oxy graduate new grid coach at City College |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-sereno-star/146728000/ |newspaper=El Sereno Star |location=[[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]] |date=September 22, 1966 |page=18 |access-date=May 7, 2024 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref> In early 1972, Botchan assisted [[Rod Humenuik]] with spring practice at San Fernando Valley State College—now known as [[California State University, Northridge]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Humenuik Gets Aides |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times/146727913/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=[[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]] |date=April 16, 1972 |page=12D |access-date=May 7, 2024 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref>

===Officiating career===
Botchan's officiating career began in 1972 and until 1976 he officiated [[High school football|high school]] and [[junior college football]] games. He was assigned two games as an umpire in the [[Pac-12 Conference|Pacific-10 Conference]] between 1976 and 1979 before applying and being accepted to the NFL in 1980.

In 1980, Botchan joined the NFL as a [[Official (American football)#Line judge|line judge]] because no openings were available as an umpire. As a rookie, he received a rare opportunity to officiate a playoff game. 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.

Botchan was the umpire during a [[1988 NFL season]] game on December 31 between the [[Philadelphia Eagles]] and [[Chicago Bears]] at [[Soldier Field]] played under heavy fog. This game became known in NFL lore as the "[[Fog Bowl (American football)|Fog Bowl]]". During a game in the late 1990s, Botchan was knocked to the ground and suffered a cut to his head. He continued without missing a single play of the game, but later required eight stitches. He worked [[Super Bowl XXXIV]], in which the [[Tennessee Titans]] came up one yard short from tying the score against the [[St. Louis Rams]] on the game's final play. The play become known as "[[The Tackle]]".

Botchan's last game was an [[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. He also served as an assistant supervisor of officials for the NFL. Botchan's record of officiating five Super Bowls is shared with [[Tom Kelleher (American football)|Tom Kelleher]], [[Jack Fette]], and [[Al Jury]]. Botchan once proposed a helmet designed to look like an officials' hat worn by the umpire to protect against head injuries.

==Honors==
In 1997, Botchan was inducted into the [[Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scjewishsportshof.com/botchan.html|title = Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Home}}</ref>

==Head coaching record==
===Junior college===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Los Angeles City Cubs football|Los Angeles City Cubs]]
 | conf      = [[Western State Conference]]
 | startyear = 1966
 | endyear   = 1968
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1966 junior college football season|1966]]
 | name         = Los Angeles City
 | overall      = 6–2–1
 | conference   = 4–2–1
 | confstanding = 3rd
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1967 junior college football season|1967]]
 | name         = Los Angeles City
 | overall      = 1–9
 | conference   = 1–6
 | confstanding = T–7th
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1968 junior college football season|1968]]
 | name         = Los Angeles City
 | overall      = 6–3
 | conference   = 5–2
 | confstanding = 3rd
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Los Angeles City Cubs football|Los Angeles City Cubs]]
 | conf      = [[Southern California Conference (junior college)|Southern California Conference]]
 | startyear = 1969
 | endyear   = 1971
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1969 junior college football season|1969]]
 | name         = Los Angeles City
 | overall      = 6–3
 | conference   = 3–2
 | confstanding = T–2nd
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1970 junior college football season|1970]]
 | name         = Los Angeles City
 | overall      = 7–2
 | conference   = 4–1
 | confstanding = 2nd
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | year         = [[1971 junior college football season|1971]]
 | name         = Los Angeles City
 | overall      = 6–3
 | conference   = 4–1
 | confstanding = T–1st
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Los Angeles City
 | overall    = 32–22–1
 | confrecord = 21–12–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 32–22–1
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
}}

==See also==
* [[List of American Football League players]]
* [[List of Super Bowl officials]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commonscatinline}}

{{Los Angeles City Cubs football coach navbox}}
{{1960 Los Angeles Chargers}}
{{1961 Houston Oilers}}
{{Art McNally Award}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botchan, Ron}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:American football linebackers]]
[[Category:American Football League players]]
[[Category:Cal State Northridge Matadors football coaches]]
[[Category:Houston Oilers players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Chargers players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles City Cubs football coaches]]
[[Category:NFL officials]]
[[Category:Occidental Tigers football players]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in California]]
[[Category:Belmont High School (Los Angeles) alumni]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Sports coaches from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from California]]
[[Category:Jewish American players of American football]]
[[Category:Jews from California]]
[[Category:Jews from New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]