Sports
'Divine intervention': Why Brian Brennan has officiated high school football for 54 seasons
The L.A. Times ran an article on Orange County’s high school football officials in 1971 and listed a name to contact for more information: John Dickey, secretary of the Orange County Football Officials Assn.
The article included Dickey’s home address — a house on Brenan Way.
“I felt there was some divine intervention,” Brian Brennan recalled, seeing his last name — albeit one letter off.
The 21-year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate knocked on Dickey’s door and introduced himself. Soon, Brennan was hired and hooked on officiating football. Fifty-four seasons later, he still is.
The spry 76-year-old with bushy gray hair growing horizontally off his head like a subdued Doc Brown is the white hat — the boss — on his crew. Brennan is in his third stint as OCFOA president and stands behind the quarterback for Friday night lights. When Capistrano Valley’s Todd Marinovich broke Pat Haden’s Southern Section career passing record in 1987, Brennan was there in his white and black stripes. Those were still his early days — later building rapport with coaches such as Mater Dei’s Bruce Rollinson.
“That doesn’t mean [Rollinson] didn’t yell at me,” Brennan said. “He understood why I was out there, and that made a big difference. That’s what I try to instill when I’m instructing young guys who are coming in to officiate.”
That rapport extended to Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and today’s young slingers.
“Are you going to protect me tonight, ref?” Brennan said quarterbacks ask him.
“I’ll make you a deal,” he responds. “Your left tackle protects you because you’re right-handed. Who’s on my backside? You talk to your right tackle. Tell him to make sure no one runs me over and I’ll make sure no one runs over you.”
“Everyone laughs, and from that moment on, there is no problem.”
When he began officiating, crews adjusted to yellow flags, switching from red. Now, Brennan’s passion for officiating collides with today’s changes.
Girls’ flag football debuted last year, expanding across Southern California. Brennan said he expects flag football to grow, and they need more officials. Only 60% of boys’ football officials referee both sports.
“If there’s more schools playing, you just add more officials,” Brennan said. “But if someone doesn’t want to do it, I can’t force them. That’s where the poor pay and some other things came into play. People struggle, and it’s expensive to live in Orange County.”
As OCFOA president, fixing officials’ problems is much of what Brennan ponders. And as one of the oldest officials countrywide, sharing wisdom is another responsibility.
”It’s my job to teach them what I know about football, to try to make them better officials,” Brennan said. “My real calling is to make them understand that what you’re doing is giving back.”
All of his crew are longtime partners. Two had Brennan as their rookie instructor. His longest-tenured compadre, Tom Innocenti, died of cancer at 63 years old on Aug. 13.
Innocenti spent 34 years — more than half of his life — on Brennan’s crew.
His crew meets at a local coffee shop before games, caffeinating as they review film and notes. In their changing room, they snack on Red Vines, Laffy Taffy and Skittles — hitting pregame sugar highs like kids on Halloween. They have fun, bickering and joking — as they did before officiating Sonora versus Northwood at Portola High in Week 1action.
With a wry smile, Brennan turns on his headset and adjusts the collar of his striped uniform as he closes the locker-room door to trot down to the turf.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’ll do it until I drop dead,” Brennan said.
Sports
Kylian Mbappé’s seventh goal of the World Cup lifts France past Paraguay in physical Round of 16 match
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The United States may not have been in action on Independence Day, but France — who fittingly played an important role in the Revolutionary War — was on the pitch in Philadelphia against Paraguay in a massive Round of 16 clash for a trip to the quarterfinals.
It was a hot day in the birthplace of our nation, and that made things difficult for both teams in more ways than one.
While Paraguay is a great squad, they were significant underdogs against a heavily favored French team led by superstar Kylian Mbappé, who has been lighting it up this tournament.
THIS ‘AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL’ RENDITION BEFORE THE FRANCE VS PARAGUAY MATCH WILL GIVE YOU GOOSEBUMPS
French and Paraguayan players get into a shoving match during their Round of 16 match on Saturday in Philadelphia. (Kyle Ross-Imagn Images)
Obviously, the heat itself is a factor, but it also made for a slower pitch, something that was believed to play into the hands of Paraguay.
However, most of the action in the first half was played on their end as France put the pressure on through the first half hour of the match.
It was intense, and that intensity boiled over in the 35th minute with some pushing and shoving after Mbappé and Paraguay’s Andrés Cubas started a wild shoving match.
VAR DENIES CROATIA’S GAME-TYING GOAL AS CRISTIANO RONALDO LEADS PORTUGAL TO ROUND OF 16
But while the intensity ramped up — and stayed high for pretty much the entire game — Paraguay weathered the storm and had every reason to feel good about reaching halftime with the game scoreless.
France got some more scoring opportunities in the early part of the second half, including a near-breakaway for Mbappé.
France’s Kylian Mbappe scored the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning goal against Paraguay on a penalty kick. (James Lang-Imagn Images)
In the 67th minute, France was awarded a penalty kick for a foul against Desire Doue that had to go to VAR for review, and it was Mbappé who took it.
MESSI, ARGENTINA AVOID A SHOCKING UPSET IN WILD KNOCKOUT STAGE MATCH AGAINST CAPE VERDE
Mbappé has tended to do most of his damage in the second half, and that trend continued here with him drilling the penalty past Paraguay goaltender Orlando Gill.
That was his 19th career World Cup goal, and his seventh of this tournament alone, tying him with Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the tournament lead.
Paraguay seemed to fade after the Mbappé goal, but turned it on again late, forcing Mike Maignan to make his first save of the day about 89 and a half minutes into the match.
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It seemed like Paraguay’s plan was to try and get a rise out of the French, and they succeeded in drawing three yellow cards. In fact, they even tried to keep that going after the match with players meeting near midfield for some more pushing and shoving.
But France is moving on, and they will take on Morocco in a quarterfinal match on Thursday in Boston.
The Dodgers have four more 2026 All-Stars joining Shohei Ohtani on the National League squad.
Center fielder Andy Pages claimed the first All-Star nod of his career. And third baseman Max Muncy (three) first baseman Freddie Freeman (10) and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (two) added to their Midsummer Classic honors.
Ohtani (six) bypassed phase two of All-Star voting by earning the most fan votes of any player in the first phase.
All of the Dodgers position players were elected as starters, marking the first time since 1980 that the team has had four All-Star starters.
The MLB All-Star Game will be played in Philadelphia on July 14.
Sports
Chris Johnson’s former teammate reflects on ex-star’s surprise ALS diagnosis, tight-knit bond after milestone
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The NFL world was stunned on Monday when it became public that Chris Johnson, one of just nine players ever to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, is suffering from ALS.
The news hit close to home for Ryan Fitzpatrick, who played for Johnson’s Tennessee Titans for a season. And despite it being just one year, the two have a special connection.
“He was a great teammate when I got to play with him for the one year, and obviously a super talented guy on the football field. We texted about a year ago. I was just looking back at our text messages, and one of the things that I had sent him — the 100th touchdown pass that I threw in the NFL was to CJ2K, and he signed the football for me and gave it to me. It says, ‘To my cool white boy. Congrats on number 100,’” Fitzpatrick recalled in an interview with Fox News Digital. “So the amount of street credit I have from Chris Johnson calling me a cool white boy has always been awesome to me.”
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, No. 4 of the Tennessee Titans, hands off to running back Chris Johnson, No. 28, against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on October 13, 2013 in Seattle, Washington. (Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
But ALS is just such a tough thing to have to deal with, obviously for Chris and for everybody around him. You can just imagine the frustrations of his mind being there but his body starting to fail him and how difficult that is. We’re obviously all hoping for the best for him, and all our love and support goes to him and his wife and his family.”
In a lengthy social media post, Johnson said that there is growing research that shows a link between repetitive head trauma and ALS, and studies have shown that NFL players are four times as likely to develop ALS as the general population.
Fitzpatrick, personally, said that when it comes to football, he would do it all over again, even as the risks are more prevalent now than ever before. However, what comes with age is more grim reality.
Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson runs against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on Aug. 28, 2010. (Sam Sharpe/USA TODAY Sports)
FORMER NFL STAR CHRIS JOHNSON SAYS HE’S BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ALS
“I do think guys playing football understand at least the broad scope of what the risks are. I think a lot of guys would tell you, and I would be the same way, football has given me so much in my life that it’s something I would do again in a heartbeat. And for my kids that want to pursue it, I’m happy for them to pursue it,” Fitzpatrick said.
“But as you get older, I’m 43, as you get older, and your parents get older, I lost my mom five years ago, there’s just more stuff that seems to happen. It’s really sad. One of my best friends from high school was diagnosed with ALS. So seeing that firsthand, and the difficulties that come with it, not just for him but everybody that is around him, it’s really hard. As you get older, stuff happens, and there are things that you have to deal with and figure out. So unfortunately, it’s a tough part about aging.”
There is no known cure for ALS – known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It’s a progressive disease in which the brain loses connection with the muscles, according to the ALS Association. The afflicted slowly lose their ability to walk, talk, eat, dress, write, swallow and, eventually, breathe.
Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson breaks free for a long run against the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 8, 2009. The Titans defeated the 49ers 34-27. (Cary Edmondson/USA TODAY Sports)
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The former running back played in the NFL from 2008 to 2017 with the Titans, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.
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