‘I’m an NFL referee but my day job is to catch cheats, thieves and frauds’
An NFL referee moonlights as an official in America’s biggest sports league with his day job focused on catching thieves and frauds.
Eugene Hall has worked in the NFL for nine seasons after being enrolled in its developmental program in 2006, before he was officially recruited in 2014.
The 45-year-old has already earned three Super Bowl rings, as game day officials also receive one, and he has lofty goals in the NFL, aiming to ultimately become a vice-president of officiating within the league.
However, Hall’s importance to the NFL could be trumped by his day job, as the Texas native is a special agent in the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).
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The referee joined the federal agency in 2006 with his official title being an IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent.
Hall chases tax cheats, identity thieves and fraudsters during the week, before donning the black and white stripes in the NFL on football Sundays.
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(Image: COURTESY IRS)
He explained how he goes about communicating in both of his jobs and said there’s a moment where the two connect when it comes to his ability to converse.
“Most of the time when I am talking to coaches on the sideline, it is in a reactionary moment,” Hall said. “Something on the football field did not go their way and they want answers as to why things happened a certain way.
“I have to look the coach in the eye and be confident in my answers. However, when I am wrong, then I have to admit my mistakes.”
(Image: Getty Images)
He admitted that during IRS audits or criminal investigations where tensions are expected to be heightened, he found that he “had to be able to speak to people the same as if they were coaches on the sideline”.
A league referee juggling two jobs is not as rare as you’d think, as while top officials are reported to earn more than $200,000 (£160,000) a year, NFL officials don’t even get health insurance and are considered to be part-time employees.
A key case Hall’s division was tasked with was to stop scammers taking advantage of former US President Barack Obama’s stimulus program.
Called ‘Obama schemes’, scammers would advertise “free government money” they would give away through the program.
(Image: Getty Images)
They would then bank on citizens to call in, asking for their free money and handing over their Social Security numbers among other personal information.
Once armed with the information they gathered, the scammers would file fake tax returns, posing as the people they deceived as they committed identity theft tax fraud.
Hall is to gear up for his 10th season in the NFL later this year and will make to look it four rings in just a decade of being an official.
