A Super Bowl vacation for 12th-year official Hayes

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,” Hayes said in an e-mail Thursday. “All the rest have one or none. I’m not the smartest math guy on the planet but I can figure that one out! I like this new policy. I’d love another one but let other officials who’ve had really good seasons the chance to work the big one.”

Hayes, 57, is in his 12th year working as a side judge for the NFL. He most recently helped officiate the NFC divisional playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants.

Instead, Hayes watched the Super Bowl with his son, Newport Harbor High water polo player Andy Hayes, and his friends from the water polo team.

Hayes said he’s not a fan of huge Super Bowl parties, but he had no problem with the huge 60-inch high definition television he and his son’s friends were camping in front of to watch pro football’s biggest event.

“They’re avid fans and it’s fun for me to try to explain certain calls / non-calls,” Hayes said.

— From staff reports