Hall of Fame
A dedicated alumnus who has served the University in several capacities, Dale Hamer is in his 33rd season as a National Football League official and his ninth year as an instant replay official.
Hamer was the head linesman in the 1983 and 1988 Super Bowls and referee of the 1992 American Football League championship, as well as the alternate referee for the 1993 Super Bowl. Past president of the National Football League Referees’ Association, he is the association’s secretary-treasurer.
Hamer followed in the footsteps of his uncle, James E. “Tex” Hamer, who was an NFL official from 1947-1960 and later observed officials for the NFL.
Dale Hamer started officiating high school basketball games in 1962, then officiated at more than 400 high school and college football games from 1963 to 1980 before joining the ranks of NFL officials.
"I wanted to make sure I was ready because I did not want to embarrass Jim Hamer when I put on the striped shirt," said the younger Hamer. "I did not know it but when I started officiating high school games he was watching me and later assigned me to games. But when I first started I was worried that I would embarrass the Hamer name."
His No. 104 jersey was depicted on the cover of the 2009 NFL Referees Association directory and Inside Sports magazine labeled him the “NFL’s Best” in 1998.
"If you can't play or coach it, there's nothing to do but officiate it," said Hamer. "I've been blessed to have found my niche a long time ago. I've never felt uncomfortable in the narrow stripes of high school or college or the big stripes of the NFL. You're in control, and everybody else around you is going totally nuts."
Before making his mark in the corporate world, Hamer was a secondary mathematics teacher and coach at Clairton and West Mifflin North high schools in western Pennsylvania. He was an assistant football coach for West Mifflin North’s 1963 football team, which won the WPIAL Class AAA championship.
Hamer retired in 1992 after a 28-year career as vice president for leasing and finance at USX Corp.
At Cal U, Hamer was president of the Foundation for California University from 2005-2009; he has been a board member for 13 years. He was interim alumni director from 1994-1996 and addressed the graduates at Cal U’s 2007 winter Commencement. Today he is a member of Cal U’s Board of Presidential Advisors.
Hamer’s University accolades include the Michael Duda Athletic Achievement Award in 1988, the Job Johnson Award for Notable Achievement in 2004 and the 2010 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award.
He also has been inducted into the Mid-Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame, the Western and East Boros chapters of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, and the Belle Vernon Area High School Football Hall of Fame.
“California obviously means a lot to me and I certainly consider this the most prestigious honor of them all because it’s kind of a collectively takes in all the others,” he said. “I guess this is one for the thumb as people like to say but I am honored and humbled.”
The newly elected president of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, he also serves as secretary-treasurer of the Western Chapter.
Last summer Hamer was the master of ceremonies for the Mid-Mon Valley hall of fame’s annual banquet. He has emceed many Penn Hills and East Boros hall of fame affairs, as well as NFL Referees’ Association dinners.
Originally from Fairhope, Pa., Hamer is a 1955 graduate of Bellmar High School, where he was a two-year football letter winner as a guard and middle linebacker.
Despite becoming one of the more recognizable officials at football's highest level of competition, Hamer remains fond of the area where as a youngster he delivered the Charleroi Mail and Monessen Independent newspapers.
"My mother (Betty) raised four kids cleaning other's people houses for three dollars a day," Hamer said. "We were very poor, but she never told us we were poor so we did not know. I'm just a Mon Valley guy from Fairhope, I was raised and taught to work hard. You can never forget where you are from and the people that influenced you."
He earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Cal U, putting himself through college by cutting lumber in a sawmill. He received his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 1970.
He looks at his involvement with Cal over the years as a continuation of his undergraduate days.
“I am living my college career vicariously now, with my active interest,” said Hamer, who was the President of the Math Club his final two years as a student. “My involvement today gives me a piece of the campus life I missed as a student.”
Hamer emphasized his involvement increased with the arrival of President Armenti in 1992.
“He asked for my help and I sat in on many of the early development planning meetings and thought he was a dreamer,” Hamer said. “He had all these ideas and I told him he could not do this in California. Fortunately he did not listen to me. There’s no end in sight to his plans and ideas.”
As many, Hamer is impressed with the campus’ extraordinary growth and aesthetic improvements.
“What he’s (Armenti) done to this university has given me so much pride and I try to convey that to other alumni,” he said. “I ask them when was the last time they were on campus and I tell them they need to come back. That’s all it takes to get alumni more involved. You just need to get them on this campus because once they get here and see they want to be part of it.”
Hamer and his wife, Dr. Arden Hamer, served as honorary chairs of the 2004 President’s Gala. Residents of Murrysville, Pa., the couple has three grown children—Lauren (deceased), Lisa and Megan — and five grandchildren.
