Laird Hayes

Richard Dunn Even in his finest hour, Laird Hayes, the NFL official, was his own toughest critic, overruling himself on a couple of issues that nobody watching Super Bowl XXXVI last season would notice. When Hayes received his Super Bowl XXXVI ring at the NFL Officials Association union meeting last May, it didn't represent a dramatic, last-second, game-winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri to lift the New England Patriots to a 20-17 upset victory over the St. Louis Rams.

Tony Altobelli If you're a student at Orange Coast College watching a National Football League game on the tube some Sunday afternoon and an official blows a call against your favorite team, be careful what you say. You might be in one of his classes. Laird Hayes, OCC men's soccer co-coach also moonlights as a side judge in the NFL. Entering his fifth season in the "bigs", Hayes has an endless amount of stories about his Sunday job. "I was on the field the game of the Detroit-Pittsburgh Thanksgiving game last year where the new coin toss rule was established," Hayes said.

When one of the most controversial calls in NFL history took place, Laird Hayes wasn't watching it during the Monday Night Football telecast. Hayes, a Newport Beach resident and an NFL side judge entering his 18th season, said he was watching the movie, "Midnight in Paris. " "I absolutely refused to watch those scabs work," said Hayes, who made the big call on Mario Manningham's catch along the sideline during the Giants' game-winning drive against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in February.

Laird Hayes, the men's soccer coach at Orange Coast College and NFL side judge, has been selected to work Super Bowl XXXVIII Feb. 1 in Houston. Hayes, in his ninth season as an NFL official, will work his second Super Bowl when the Carolina Panthers battle the New England Patriots. The Newport Beach resident was selected for the Super Bowl two years ago in New Orleans when the Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams. Super Bowl officials are chosen on merit, not seniority.

Orange Coast College will host a reunion for its intercollegiate surf teams Aug. 24 on the Huntington Beach side of the Santa Ana River Jetties. The reunion will begin at 3 p.m. next to Huntington Beach State Park. OCC fielded a competitive surf team from 1977 through 1982. The Pirates captured the state surfing championship three times, in 1977, 1978 and 1980. Surfing was dropped as an intercollegiate sport on campus in 1983. The surf teams were coached by Laird Hayes, who continues to teach in the college's physical education and athletics division.

Richard Dunn NEWPORT BEACH - Laird Hayes of Newport Beach and Orange Coast College, an NFL side judge, has been selected by the league as one of the seven officials to work Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans Feb. 3. For Hayes, 52, it's his first Super Bowl appearance. Super Bowl officials are chosen on merit, not seniority. Crews are broken up following the NFL season and only invited officials work playoff games. "I wasn't expecting it," said Hayes, in his seventh year as an NFL official, after working several years in college football in the Pac-10.

NFL official Laird Hayes, a Newport Beach resident and the Orange Coast College men’s soccer coach, will work the New England-at-Indianapolis game on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. (PST) It is the first time in NFL history that teams with a record of 7-0 or better will meet during the regular season, as the Patriots are 8-0 and the Colts, the defending Super Bowl champions, are 7-0. Hayes, 57, is in his 12th year and will be working as side judge. He is working with John Parry’s crew.

TORRANCE - It took longer than expected, but for Orange Coast College men's soccer, a win is a win. Arrash Saidi's goal in the 20th minute of play gave the Pirates their first win of the season as they blanked host El Camino, 1-0, Wednesday. "He was very patient with the ball once he got and he was able to put it in short-side, from a tough angle," co-coach Laird Hayes said." Another big factor for OCC (1-6-1) was the play of backup goalie Geno Vitale-Sansoti, who had seven saves, most of which came late in the contest.

Orange Coast College soccer coach and NFL referee Laird Hayes was interpreting officials? calls during the Super Bowl Sunday, he just wasn?t doing it in front of millions of people. Because the NFL instituted new rules for officials to get more to the big game, Hayes, who has already officiated two Super Bowls, sat this one out. The league examines the top three officials from each position, and the one with the fewest Super Bowls gets the nod. ?I?m the only side judge with two,?

When one of the most controversial calls in NFL history took place, Laird Hayes wasn't watching it during the Monday Night Football telecast. Hayes, a Newport Beach resident and an NFL side judge entering his 18th season, said he was watching the movie, "Midnight in Paris. " "I absolutely refused to watch those scabs work," said Hayes, who made the big call on Mario Manningham's catch along the sideline during the Giants' game-winning drive against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in February.

With a 17-year career that has featured three Super Bowls, eight divisional games, five wild-card contests and one conference championship game, Laird Hayes has had some great moments as a side judge in the NFL. But the greatest time in his career came Sunday, when the Newport Beach resident made the right call on the biggest play on the biggest stage. During the New York Giants' game-winning drive, quarterback Eli Manning launched a bomb toward the sideline to receiver Mario Manningham.

Newport Beach resident earns assignment as side judge for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Newport Beach resident Laird Hayes learned Monday that he would be on the officiating crew for Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis, Ind. Hayes, a former Orange Coast College men's soccer coach in his 16th season as an NFL official, will be the side judge on the seven-man crew. It's the third Super Bowl assignment for Hayes, 61, who also worked Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 and Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002.

A picture can sometimes seem so simple, especially a group photo. But this wasn't just any typical picture. There weren't any special poses, mind you. Just smiles. From those faces you could still see the youth and carefreeness that constantly showed during their days on the Orange Coast College surf team. Some 30 years later, sure they've all grown in age, but their personalities have hardly changed. Many of them are still part of the surf culture. So what do you do at a party if you're a surfer?

As millions of football fanatics sit down Sunday to watch the Super Bowl between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, know this, Orange County folks: There’s a Newport Beach resident who’s been to the Super Bowl twice — and he wasn’t sitting in the stands. He’s got the pinstripes, the hat, the shoes, the whistle, the flags, even the professional pig skin. He even has a number: It’s No. 125. Laird Hayes, an Orange Coast College instructor, is living the dream.

During Sunday night cross-country flights home, Laird Hayes watches NFL football on his laptop. That’s not so unusual. Lots of folks turn their attention to America’s favorite sport on transcontinental flights. But Hayes, a former catcher for Princeton University’s baseball team who has a doctorate in higher education from UCLA, sits in his first-class seat and breaks down a DVD replay of the game he officiated earlier that day. Laird, an Orange Coast College dean, professor and head soccer coach for the past 33 years, is an NFL side judge.

Orange Coast College soccer coach and NFL referee Laird Hayes was interpreting officials? calls during the Super Bowl Sunday, he just wasn?t doing it in front of millions of people. Because the NFL instituted new rules for officials to get more to the big game, Hayes, who has already officiated two Super Bowls, sat this one out. The league examines the top three officials from each position, and the one with the fewest Super Bowls gets the nod. ?I?m the only side judge with two,?

NFL official Laird Hayes, a Newport Beach resident and the Orange Coast College men’s soccer coach, will work the New England-at-Indianapolis game on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. (PST) It is the first time in NFL history that teams with a record of 7-0 or better will meet during the regular season, as the Patriots are 8-0 and the Colts, the defending Super Bowl champions, are 7-0. Hayes, 57, is in his 12th year and will be working as side judge. He is working with John Parry’s crew.