Today In Sports History (February 19, 1965)

On this day in 1965, the NFL added its 6th official, the line judge. The line judge was the second-to-last official adopted by the NFL. The 7th and final official added was the side judge, and it happened in 1978. The line judge is positioned on the opposite sideline of the head linesman. The line judge has the responsibilities of making rulings on out-of-bounds calls for his side of the field, pre-snap penalties and marking forward progress to name a few. The NFL and CFL both use the same amount officials, although some leagues have tried to adopt other ways of officiating, whether it be human officials or technology such as cameras.