This is an accepted version of this page Bill Leavy (pronounced LEE-vee; February 13, 1947 – March 28, 2023) was an American football official who officiated in the National Football League (NFL) from the 1995 through 2014 seasons, wore uniform number 127, and was also a retired San Jose, California police officer and firefighter, serving for 27 years.
In his twenty-year NFL officiating career, Leavy was assigned to fifteen playoff games, including two Super Bowls.
Between the 1970s and 1984, Leavy worked several all-star, playoff, championship games at the high school and junior college levels.
During his 11 seasons in Division I football, he worked four college bowl games (Independence, Freedom, California and Las Vegas).
Leavy was inadvertently struck in the back of the head by a player while trying to break up a fight during a National Football Conference (NFC) Wild Card playoff game on January 8, 2000, between the Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins at FedExField in Landover, Maryland.
Paying tribute to the New York City police and firefighters who served during and in the aftermath of the attacks, Leavy wore a San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) hat during the coin toss.
Just prior to the coin toss, Leavy announced that it was "my special privilege to be [here] [today] after serving 27 years as a police officer and firefighter in San Jose.
[10] In 2010, while visiting the Seahawks' preseason training camp for an annual rules interpretation session with the Seattle media, Leavy brought up Super Bowl XL.