Jack Douglas Vest (September 16, 1926 – June 2, 1972) was an American athlete, sports coach, and official. He was a 12-letter man atEast Tennessee State University, winning honors infootball,basketball, andbaseball between 1946 and 1950. He is also to be found numerous times in the Buccaneer record book. He was an outstandingquarterback in football and averaged between 15 and 20 points per season in basketball. A gifted passer, Vest held the Buccaneer record for most passes completed in a single game for years. He was a member of the All-Decade 1940s team as a quarterback and figured prominently in some of the better teams fielded by coachLoyd T. Roberts. Vest is a member of the East Tennessee State Athletic Hall of Fame.
After leaving East Tennessee State, Vest coached high school football and turned out a 9–0–1 record with aSt. Paul, Virginia team which had only 17 players on the entire squad. He coached atGreeneville High School inGreeneville, Tennessee from 1951 to 1953.
After coaching football at Hanes High School inWinston-Salem, North Carolina, he became an executive in the insurance department ofWachovia and devoted much time to officiating. Vest official games in theSouthern Conference and theAtlantic Coast Conference and worked in theGator Bowl as a football official in 1964. For six years in a row he was an official in theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championships inKansas City.
In 1965, he became an official in theAmerican Football League (AFL). He was the referee forSuper Bowl II between theGreen Bay Packers and theOakland Raiders.[1]
He wore uniform number 3 as a referee in theNational Football League (NFL) during the 1970 and 1971 seasons. During aMonday Night Football game between theNew York Giants andPhiladelphia Eagles in November 1970, Vest wore bright blue gloves which were easily visible to the television audience. The NFL soon passed a rule all officials' gloves had to be black. That game is more memorable, however, for the antics in the broadcast booth, whereHoward Cosell threw up onDon Meredith's boots and had to leaveFranklin Field at halftime.
Vest worked the 1970 AFC divisional playoff game between theCincinnati Bengals andBaltimore Colts, and the 1971 AFC Championship Game between the Colts andMiami Dolphins. His crew for the 1971 season included umpireFrank Sinkovitz, head linesman Leo Miles, line judgeBruce Alford, back judge John Steffen, and field judge Tony Skover. Steffen replaced Bob Frederic from Vest's 1970 crew when Frederic was promoted to referee for 1971 to replace the retired Bob Finley.
In June 1972 Vest was killed in a motorcycle accident atMyrtle Beach, South Carolina.Chuck Heberling was promoted from line judge to replace Vest as referee, and the remainder of Vest's crew worked with Heberling during the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Heberling's line judge position was filled byRed Cashion.