Don Orr
{{Short description|American football player and official}}
{{distinguish|Donald Orr}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college football player
|name=Don Orr
|currentnumber=10
|pastschools=Vanderbilt (1955)
|school=Vanderbilt Commodores
|class=Graduate
|currentposition=Quarterback
|highlights=
- Vanderbilt's first bowl victory
| bowlgames =
- Gator Bowl (1955)}}
Donald C. Orr was an American football player and official.{{Cite web |last=Traughber |first=Bill |date=2011-11-09 |title=Don Orr: Vandy QB to NFL official |url=https://vucommodores.com/don-orr-vandy-qb-to-nfl-official/ |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=Vanderbilt University Athletics |language=en-US}} He was born in Miami, Florida.{{cite web |title=Don Orr: Vandy QB to NFL official |url=https://vucommodores.com/don-orr-vandy-qb-to-nfl-official/ |website=Vanderbilt University Commodores |access-date=28 February 2023}}
Vanderbilt University
Orr was a prominent quarterback for the Vanderbilt Commodores football teams of Vanderbilt University.
=1955=
{{main|1955 Vanderbilt Commodores football team}}
Orr led Vanderbilt to its first bowl victory by defeating Auburn 25 to 13 in the 1955 Gator Bowl. He was selected Vanderbilt's MVP of the game, and received a standing ovation upon getting the award.{{cite web |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2011/Bowls.pdf |title=Bowl/All-Star Game Records: Most Valuable Players in Former Major Bowls |author=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) |work=2011 NCAA Division I Football Records |page=96 |publisher=NCAA.org |accessdate=October 3, 2011 }} Vandy's first two scores were a pass Orr to Joe Stephenson and a run by Orr respectively.{{cite web|url=http://www.taxslayerbowl.com/wp-content/uploads/boxscores/11thBoxScores.pdf|title=December 31st, 1955}}
NFL draft
He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 26th round of the 1956 NFL draft; but he never talked to the team.
Official
Orr was a prominent National Football League (NFL) official for 25 seasons, from 1971 through 1995,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V5bBm8HW328C&pg=PA128|page=128|author=Bill Traughber|title=Vanderbilt Football:Tales Of Commodore Gridiron History|isbn=9781609494230|year=2011}} and a field judge in three Super Bowls.
He wore uniform number 77 for the majority of his NFL career. As a side judge in the 1979 AFC Championship Game between the Houston Oilers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Orr made a controversial incomplete pass call denying Oilers receiver Mike Renfro an apparent game-tying touchdown late in the third quarter.{{cite news|last=Grimsley|first=Will|newspaper=The Daily Colonist|publication-place=Victoria, British Columbia|date=January 8, 1980|page=11|title=NFL backing official|agency=Associated Press|url=https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19800108/page/n10/mode/1up}} The Oilers subsequently settled for a field goal and went on to lose 27–13. The controversy prompted calls for the NFL to institute replay review.{{cite news|last=Wolf|first=Mark|newspaper=The Charlotte Observer|date=January 11, 1980|page=3B|title=An NFL Coverup on Renfro Call? Refs' Mistakes Part of Game}}
Contracting
Though officially retired in 2006, Orr is chairman of the board of Nashville Machine Co., a mechanical contracting company.{{cite web|url=http://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/vanderbilt-magazine/2009/03/where-are-they-now/|title=Where Are They Now?}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback navbox}}
{{Bears1956DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Don}}
Category:Possibly living people