By Tom Robinson | The Virginian-Pilot
If NFL officials are zebras, NFL players are lions. They co-exist in the same 100-yard habitat, but the alliance is uneasy with forced, but necessary, respect given by the beasts to the striped whistle blowers.
"You just really look down at the officials," said Chesapeake's Chris Crocker, who has played defensive back in the NFL for 11 seasons. "I don't know what that's about."
Yet, as Crocker, 34, nears retirement - he hopes to play this season but is unsigned - he's developed such an affinity for officials that, hold on to your helmet, he wants to be one.
The former Deep Creek High and Marshall University star has trained for two years in the NFL's "Football Officiating Academy," a program aimed toward drawing men and women into officiating at all levels.
Crocker, however, stands out within an initiative to introduce current and retired players to officiating. Fourteen former players - and Crocker, the lone active player - are earning their stripes, according to the NFL.
The academy "provides players a way to stay connected to the game while enhancing the perception of officiating and expanding the pool of officials," Terell Canton, the academy's program manager, wrote in an email. "Coupled with knowledge of the game and credibility, their experience on the field could lead to a successful transition and career."
Only two ex-NFL players, Steve Freeman and Phil McKinnely, are NFL officials. Crocker hopes to join them as a back judge, policing his familiar turf in the secondary.
"I'm already in my mid-30s; I don't have 20 years to take the time to try and make it back" to the NFL, Crocker said. "So this program is really about seeing if it can be expedited."
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