Jim Tunney, Dean of NFL Referees To Appear at Special Engagement in Sand City, California

California, United States - Jim Tunney, local author, motivational speaker and former NFL referee, will be signing his recently released book, It’s the Will, Not the Skill( http://www.willnottheskill.com ) at Borders Book Store in Sand City, California on Friday, October 12 at 3pm. It’s the Will, Not the Skill( http://www.willnottheskill.com ) is a professional treatise focused on the principles and philosophies of success as seen through the eyes, mind and heart of football luminary Herman Edwards.

Heralded as the next great sports documentary of our time, Jim Tunney masterfully tells the tale of the life, dreams and accomplishments of one of the great unsung heroes of our time. Tunney’s inspiring story begins with Herman Edwards, a Seaside, CA native, and like everyone else he had a dream. Herman Edwards’ dream was football. Herman Edwards accomplished his dream coining the phrase “You play to win the game!".

Tunney’s inspirational book not only covers the formation of a dream, the implementation of the dream, the accomplishment of the dream, but paints a nearly spiritual portrait of a man who decided to give back, with the same fierce competitive spirit that football taught him.

As Head Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, Mr. Edwards realized that dream. But his dream didn’t stop with reaching the highest level of his profession. Mr. Edward’s dream continues, and so does his philosophy of winning.

This past summer Mr. Edwards’ conducted a football camp for over 800 young people on the Peninsula. With a “first down” attitude, the camp helps students not only perfect their play on the field but more importantly learn the skills to deal with the fumbles, tackles and blitzes that young men and women face as they become adults.

About Jim Tunney
Dr. Jim Tunney was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 1960 to 1991. In his 31 years as an NFL official, Jim Tunney received a record 29 post-season assignments, including ten Championship games and Super Bowls VI, XI, and XII and named as an alternate in Super Bowl XVIII. He is still the only referee who has worked consecutive Super Bowls, and likely will be the only one to do so.

Nicknamed the "Dean of NFL Referees", Tunney was the first official to be named to the "All-Madden Team" in 1990 and won the "Gold Whistle Award" in 1992 from the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO). He wore uniform number 32 for most of his career, but when the NFL numbered each position separately from 1979 through 1981 rather than assigning one number per official, he wore number 3.

Officials who worked on Tunney's crew for many years included former NFL great Pat Harder at umpire and head linesman Burl Toler, the NFL's first African-American official.

After graduating from Occidental College in 1951, Tunney starting officiating football and basketball working high school, college, and Pacific Coast Conference (Pac-10) games until 1967. In 1960, he was hired to work in the NFL as a field judge before being promoted to the referee position in 1967 where he would stay for the remainder of his career until retiring after the 1990 NFL season. His final game was the 1991 AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Raiders played January 20, 1991.

Still active in league affairs and many sports issues, Tunney was a member of Commissioner Tagliabue's Officiating 2000 Committee, and was Vice Chair of the U.S. Olympic Committee for Northern California (Sydney 2000 Games). In 1993, he founded the Jim Tunney Youth Foundation( http://www.jimtunney.com/youth.html ), which supports community programs and resources that work with youth to develop leadership, work skills, wellness, and self-esteem. He writes a weekly column for the Monterey Herald and is a motivational speaker.

For more information please call 831-649-3200
http://www.jimtunney.com/


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