By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Take your pick.
There are facts about figures. Or, a way to figure out the facts.
Numbers are the starting point.
There are around 7.7 billion people in the world, give or take.
In Los Angeles, the population is above 4 million.
In Mahomet, the number of residents is in the vicinity of 8,400 and that doesn’t include two particular 1990 Mahomet-Seymour High School graduates who no longer reside locally.
Ask yourself, what are the odds that these two former school classmates would wind up at the same location in Los Angeles on a fall Sunday, without planning the trip together?
How much greater do the odds become to think that these two individuals would be getting paid to be at the same event by different organizations?
There’s just one more fact. Or figure.
It’s a 100 percent guarantee that the scenario described above occurred in 2018.
***
Don Willard and Hans Waters were among about 175 graduates in the M-S Class of 1990.
Neither earned All-Area first-team honors as athletes, but both have made names for themselves in the sporting arena.
Waters is a freelance video editor who has done work for the three major television networks (plus ESPN) and has won three Emmys, including one for his work on the 2016 Super Bowl.
Willard went to Illinois State University as a student and shortly thereafter found a part-time job to his liking.
“I had great experiences playing sports at Mahomet-Seymour and I saw officiating as a way to continue to be involved in sports after graduation,” Willard said.
He worked his way up from high school football to the collegiate level, spending three years as an official in the Big Ten Conference.
A little more than a year ago — on March 15, 2018 — Willard received a call that many covet, but few receive.
It was from the NFL informing him that he was being brought on board as a first-year official at the professional level for the upcoming season.
“It’s a call you wanted,” Willard said, “and you’re just in shock. I don’t remember a lot about the call.”
One detail is still clear.
“It was at 5:47 p.m. that I got the call,” Willard said.
Working at the professional level was not an original goal.
“Honestly, the NFL was not on my radar when I started,” Willard said.
As he continued to progress up the ladder, however, he allowed himself to dream big.
“Officiating at the highest level became an aspiration,” Willard said.
***
There were 119 officials in the NFL for the 2018 season. Willard was one of seven newcomers.
He worked as a field judge. The other six on the crew with him had an average of more than 13 years of NFL experience.
The crew, with John Hussey as the referee, didn’t wait long to make its season debut.
They were assigned to the opening Thursday night game (Sept. 6), sending Atlanta to the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
“That was a good one to get started with,” Willard said.
He was ultimately on the field for games in 14 of the 16 regular-season weeks.
It was hard to top the first one, which Philadelphia won 18-12 in front of a crowd of 69,696 spectators.
“No matter how long you work, you’ll only have one first game,” Willard said. “That will always be a special one.”
***
Willard had no shortage of memorable games.
On Oct. 28, he worked the last of three NFL games that were played in London that month, at Wembley Stadium. Philadelphia defeated Jacksonville, 24-18.
Willard was on the field in Indianapolis on Nov. 18, 2018 when the Colts hosted the Tennessee Titans.
That was the game when the home team recognized former Mahomet-Seymour athlete Jason Seaman for his heroics in a school shooting the previous May.
By chance, Willard was on Soldier Field in Chicago on Dec. 16 when the Bears played host to the Packers, and Chicago also paid tribute to Seaman in a pre-game on-field ceremony.
“I didn’t know him, but my dad (Tom) coached Jason in track at Mahomet,” Don Willard said. “I happened to see him on the field.
“It was nice to have that local connection.”
Another local connection came about at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Sept. 23, 2018, where Waters was part of the TV production crew for CBS for a Rams’ home game against the nearby Los Angeles Chargers.
That was the game where Willard was working.
“I didn’t get to see him,” Don Willard said, “but he saw me through a camera.”
They arrived at the same destination from different sporting backgrounds.
Waters was a cross-country and track runner for M-S.
Willard played football, basketball and baseball for the Bulldogs.
“Hans and I did not really have much contact after graduation,” Willard said. “I had heard about his career in sports editing, but we did not keep in touch and we didn’t cross paths until this year.”
***
One of the spectators in the stands at several of Don Willard’s NFL games was a person who admittedly didn’t pay a lot of attention to the players.
Tom Willard was watching his son, the field judge.
“I spent a lot of time watching him, instead of the game,” Tom Willard said.
Pride is one of Tom Willard’s feelings, but it didn’t just start when the 2018 NFL season began.
“It was pretty exciting for us when he was in the MAC and then the Big Ten,” Tom Willard said.
“To think he started this in college as a part-time job and now he has kind of gotten to the top of what he wanted to do.
“It’s pretty humbling.”
Tom Willard said the tributes for Seaman were deserving.
“Jason was always a stand-up guy and everybody in Mahomet is proud of him,” Tom Willard said. ““None of us are really surprised.”
***
The path to the NFL as an official is not an easy one.
Last year, that elite group of officials had a membership of 119.
Just two of those active in 2018 had also played in the NFL. Among colleges within Illinois, just one had produced more than one of the 2018 NFL officials.
Don Willard and Michael Banks (who is a side judge on a different crew from Willard) were from Illinois State University. Banks has been in the league for 17 years.
While Don Willard was stunned by the call from the NFL, he knew he was under consideration.
“I was in the NFL Officials Development Program the past two years,” he said. “All (NFL) hires are out of that program.
“It’s a numbers game, depending on how many openings there are.”
As an employee of the NFL, Willard gave up his college officiating schedule last fall.
He hopes to continue in the NFL.
“The feedback was generally pretty positive,” Willard said. “You hope you’re doing the right things.
“I was trying to become the best field judge I could be. I felt pretty good overall.”
There is a transition from the college game to the professional level.
“Some things you can’t prepare for,” Willard aid. “The speed of the game is incredible.
“In college, there are some phenomenal athletes. In the NFL, it’s another notch above.”
There was one aspect that was similar to when he stepped on the field with his high school team.
“There’s a little bit of nerves before a game, not unlike when you’re playing,” he said.
***
The 46-year-old Willard knew his inaugural NFL season would end when the regular season was completed.
First-year officials are not eligible for playoff assignments.
Second-year officials can find themselves in the mix, Willard said, “if they grade out well.”
While advancing his officiating career, Willard continued to work his regular job in Bloomington.
He is employed by Advanced Rehab and Sports Medicine.
“I had to adjust my (work) schedule some,” he said. “My employer was very accommodating.
“If I was on the West Coast, depending on the time of the game, I might not get a flight back until Monday.”
He bonded well with his crew and that made the experience enjoyable.
“It was definitely a lot of fun,” Willard said. “We had a blast.
“The crew was a great group of people and we put out our best effort every week.”
