Cox has enjoyed success as referee

Ed Cox has evidently met his match.

As a high school football official, he can penalize players for breaking rules or, in the most drastic situations, throw them out of a game.

But what happens when your whole family disagrees with you on something?

You go along, even if you do so reluctantly.

Cox, who recently officiated his 700th game in South Carolina, said he started calling games in 1962, which makes this his 48th season of blowing whistles and throwing flags.

The 75-year-old, who has lived in Cheraw for 53 years, would like to make it an even 50 years before he calls it quits. But, he admits, this is probably his final season.

“My family, my children, my grandchildren tell me to give it up,” Cox said. “They say, ‘You’re gonna fall out on the field one night,’ and I say, ‘Well, it’s where I’m happy.’”

Notice, though, Cox said “probably” when it comes to whether this is his final season wearing the stripes.

“My family still doesn’t believe I’m going to (retire),” he said. “I really don’t want to go. It’s a really tough decision.”

It’s not surprising. Doing something for almost half a century on a volunteer basis must be a labor of love. Cox said he has loved being part of a crew enforcing the rules ever since he got started, when a member of the semipro baseball team he was on at the time talked him into it.

“Walking on the field 30 minutes before game time and you know it’s Friday night football in South Carolina, I don’t think there’s anything that can beat that,” Cox said.

The South Carolina High School League does not keep records on the number of games officials have called, but Bruce Hulion of the SCHSL said in an e-mail the only others he knows of to call as many games are brothers Sam (deceased) and Truman Owens of Clinton, who each worked their 750th game a few years ago.

Cox’s milestone game came a couple weeks ago when Marlboro County played at Dillon. Marlboro County coach Dean Boyd and Dillon coach Jackie Hayes joined Cox and his family at midfield before the game to present a plaque and signed footballs from each school.

While Cox was appreciative of the honor, that’s about as much of the spotlight as he ever wants to experience, he said.

Officials generally concur that a good game for them is one where fans, players and coaches hardly realize they’re there.

It’s those other ones, Cox said, that bother him.

He knows he’s human and that in 48 seasons, any official is bound to make some bad calls.

“They worry me for several days and I’ve had some sleepless nights, too,” he said, “maybe until the next game when I get out there again. Some things, you can correct on the field and sometimes you miss something and it’s already gone, too late to correct it. I just hope the coaches have always looked at me as being fair.”

That’s the important thing, Cox said, because the game is about the players.

Cox played high school football at McColl as a tight end and quarterback, then left in 1951 to join the Navy.

He served during the Korean War and when his military service was done, he came back to South Carolina to begin his professional career.

He went to work in Wallace for J.P. Stevens, a textile finishing company, for 45 years and earned a degree in business by taking night classes at Coker College for four years.

Cox said he bought his modest Cheraw home in 1960. He also owns a home in Myrtle Beach, where he and his wife, Norma Jean, spend many weekends.
“She’s a professional shopper,” Cox said, laughing.

Understandably, Cox has officiated some memorable games in his 48 seasons, but two stand out in particular, he said.

He officiated the first Big 16 (4A Division I) state championship game at Williams-Brice stadium in 1981 between Berkeley and Gaffney and also worked the 1993 Gaffney-Northwestern Big 16 state title game in Clemson that ended in a 2-0 win for Northwestern.

And of course, Cox has seen his share of dicey situations, like a game many years ago between South Florence and Dillon.

Cox said a “ruckus” broke out that required law enforcement officers to intervene.

“They broke it up real quick,” he said. “But other than that, it’s been mostly fun. If it was trouble and I didn’t enjoy it, I would’ve quit a long time ago.”

And that’s what makes Cox’s decision to let go more difficult, the fact that he enjoys what he does so much.

He also likes the physical activity that helps keep him in shape, and he still gets high marks, he said, when he is evaluated by his peers.

“I always take a look at my ratings,” he said. “If they’re good, I know I must be doing something right. That would have gotten me out of it a long time ago, if I had been getting poor ratings from my fellow officials.”