Dave Weinberg, age 12, of Greenville, Miss., for his question

WHO IS THE CHIEF FOOTBALL OFFICIAL?

On the field during a college or professional football game, four to six officials supervise the play. The referee is the chief official and he has control of the game.

The referee stands behind the offensive team and blows a whistle to declare the ball in play or dead.

The umpire stands behind the defensive line and watches for fouls in the line while the head linesman stands at one end of the line of scrimmage. He marks the forward progress of the ball and supervises the marking crew, which moves up and down one sideline keeping track of the downs and the distance gained.

The field judge stands on the opposite side of the field from the head linesman and.is responsible for timing the game. If a player breaks any of the rules, the officials call a penalty on his team. All the officials have equal rights to call penalties.