Former Hawkeye receiver Robert Smith got to college football's biggest stage last Monday

It began on the football field at East Buchanan High School about 20 years ago, a chance for a former player and new parent to make some extra money for his family.

That was when Robert Smith broke into officiating, on a crew working a Tri-Rivers Conference game. Last Monday night, Smith was a back judge in the BCS Championship Game between Auburn and Oregon.

A wide receiver who came from his native Texas to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1983 to 1986, Smith is tied for third on the school's all-time list in career touchdown catches with 16.

He never saw himself wearing the black-and-white stripes on a football field. But when asked to join a high school crew long ago, Smith gave it a try.

“I got 60 or 65 bucks to do a doubleheader,” he said. “I used the extra money to buy Pampers and milk for my baby daughter.

“As the years went by, I kind of fell in love with it. It allowed me to stay a part of the game and be around young people.”

Clearly, Smith has been good at it, too. In the mid-1990s, he joined a crew that officiated NCAA Division III football games, mostly in the Iowa Conference. Someone suggested he apply for an officiating job in the Big Ten. He just finished his ninth season in the league in which he played.

Smith earned a spot on the league's crew in the BCS game by the way he graded out in on-field performance, in rules testing, and conditioning.

“The thing that's so unique in the Big Ten Conference is every game is so intense,” Smith said. “It's just great traditional football, whether it's at Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, wherever.

“It's funny, I played in the Gator and Holiday bowls, and I've gone back to officiate in them.”

Smith's crew worked last Monday's game without any notable glitches. The most memorable play was a run by Auburn's Michael Dyer. Dyer got up and resumed running after apparently being stopped for a short gain. He ended up with 37 yards on the play, preceding a 19-yard, last-second field goal for the victory.

The officials had never whistled Dyer down until his long run ended. An official review of the play showed Dyer's knees never touched the turf after he was initially brought down by an Oregon defender.

“You can average 180 or 190 plays in a game, and people will talk about one or two,” Smith said. “But it did feel like this one went smoothly.”

Smith joins former Hawkeye teammate and fellow wide receiver Scott Helverson of Des Moines as true big-game officials. Helverson worked the 2001 BCS title game. He moved on to the NFL, and officiated in the Super Bowl three years ago.

“Scott called me and congratulated me,” said Smith, “and I'd called him to congratulate him when he got the Super Bowl.”

Smith has long been a mainstay in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls community. He served on the Waterloo Board of Education, and was on the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors for four years.

He was worked for the University of Northern Iowa for the last 23 years. He is the executive director of UNI's Center for Urban Education, which tries to help high school students and young adults find their best academic fits.

“We sell education,” Smith said. “Not just for UNI, but for Kirkwood Community College, Hawkeye Community College, whatever their best option.”

He said he finds validation not in being assigned to officiate big games, but from his daily life.

“The big things are obvious things,” he said. “It's the little-bitty things you do that really count in life, the way you treat people, trying to do things right. I learned that from Coach (Hayden) Fry, to be the best person I can be.”

Smith also officiates high school basketball and worked the game between Linn-Mar and Cedar Rapids Washington on Friday night. “That game was just as important to me as the football game I worked for the national-title on Monday night.”