When you’ve officiated football for nearly four decades, the chances of getting hit by those participating is pretty high. Bridgeport resident Vic Moccia can vouch for that.

 

Moccia, a member of the Mason Dixon Football Officials board, just completed his 38^th year of calling ball games. Like most in the often thankless profession, Moccia has had his shares of bumps along the way.

 

“Other than getting hit and banged around,  I’ve been pretty fortunate because nothing’s been too bad,” said Moccia.

 

That statement held true through the end of the 2019 regular season. It wouldn’t hold water after the first round of the 2019 playoffs.

 

Moccia’s crew drew a first round road trip to Musselman in the Class AAA playoffs. The Applemen were hosting Parkeresburg and through the middle of the third quarter it was pretty much standard fare Moccia has been though hundreds of times.

 

Then, things changed. And it changed on one play.

 

“(Parkersburg) had been pulling their tight end across the middle anytime they went back to pass so I was keeping an eye out for it,” said Moccia.

 

The reason for that is simple. The official needs to be in the best position to observe the action and to also get out of the way of the action.

 

“You can get blindsided if you’re not paying attention,” said Moccia.

 

On the play in question, the Parkersburg quarterback dropped back and Moccia moved up. When no receivers came open, the QB tucked the ball and began to run.

 

“He went off tackle and he started coming across the field and I moved as I usually do, based on the angles, to get in position to watch the play. Nothing seemed unusual ... but that wasn't the case," said Moccia. "I was certain the quarterback was going to miss me."

 

As everything is taking place, Moccia said the safety from Musselman put a tackle on the quarterback. During the tackle, both players plowed into Moccia’s back as the veteran official is totally relaxed getting ready to turn and watch the action on the play to see if any calls need to be made.

 

“It was just a split second and ‘boom, there’s this violent collision where I get pulverized in the back and get driven straight forward,” said Moccia. “The bad part is that wasn’t the end of it.”

 

While Moccia didn’t see the first hit, he saw the one that was coming. As he’s looking forward another Musselman player comes in to assist on the tackle.

 

“I looked up from where I was going to hit the ground and my forehead, noses and face hit this tackler in the shoulder pads,” said Moccia. “I went down like a ton of bricks and when I hit, I was probably knocked out. I know I wasn’t sure what was going on at the time.”

 

As he found out later, there was even more carnage. Two linemen also fell on top of a pile that featured the red and white of Parkersburg and the green of Musselman, but no visible few of Moccia’s black and white official’s outfit.

 

Moccia, who has been knocked down before, remembers thinking about getting up to watch the rest of the play. It’s happened in the past, but as things were happening in slow motion he hesitated.

 

“I realized I wasn’t getting up. I also realized I probably shouldn’t get up,” said Moccia. “Before I heard anything I was just laying there. I got hit so hard it left a taste in my mouth.”

 

The first thing he remembered after that was the line judge came over. His advice was simple.

 

“He just said ‘don’t move.’ I didn’t move,” said Moccia.

 

Two doctors came to the field from each sideline quickly. They began to ask questions and one of the doctor’s asked Moccia – after checking his neck and seeing if he had a concussion – if he could sit up.

 

“I said I could and went to get up. He told me not to get up, but to just to sit up and I did. I was sore from it and felt some strain in my neck and thought, for sure, I pulled a muscle,” said Moccia. “I thought that was it.”

 

Moccia looked at the head of the crew Sam DeMarco and gave him a ‘let’s go’ sign with his hands. The game started back up and we finished it out.

 

If the story ended there, it would just be a ‘holy crap’ moment. It’s about to get better, or from Moccia’s standpoint, worse – a lot worse.

 

Moccia and the crew drove from Musselman getting home around 2:30 a.m. He awoke to what he expected – a body littered with more than a dozen visible injuries.

 

“I was sore, but I was able to do things and figured I would be just fine,” said Moccia.

 

Things were about to change on the ‘just fine’ front in a big way. Three days later with his neck still hurting a bit, he went to see his family physician, Dr. Robert Snuffer in Weston, who also happens to be a friend of Moccia’s as well.

 

“I’m in his office and I told him the pain wasn’t bad at all and he did something to me, and it hurt like hell. That’s when he told me to get an x-ray because I could have possibly broken my neck,” said Moccia. “I told him there was no way because it was three days since the hit and I was not hardly in any pain, even though the pain and discomfort I did have was somewhat consistent.”

 

Moccia then headed to Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital. After the x-rays, he headed back to Bridgeport and got into the house just in time to answer a phone call. The call was from Snuffer

 

“He told me your neck’s broken. I told him ‘you’re messing with me,’ because we’re good friends.  He told me this is something he wouldn’t mess around with,” said Moccia.

 

Instead, Moccia was sent to United Hospital Center immediately and was placed in a cervical collar to make sure his neck was stable. All of this, considering the pain wasn’t bad and the words “broken neck” were just entered into his head, didn’t add up for Moccia.

 

“He told me it was clear as could be on the x-ray and I’m thinking I’m just uncomfortable and working around the house, but I knew he was serious,” said Moccia.

 

After getting to UHC, a CT scan was done. The doctor initially told Moccia that there was good news in the fact his neck wasn’t broken. After initial relief, he knew what Snuffer had told him and pressed the issue. A short while later, they came back and confirmed Moccia’s C4 vertebrae, one of the vertebrae that lies in front of the spinal cord, was indeed broken.

 

While Moccia didn’t need surgery, he did have to wear a cervical collar for eight weeks where there was a “distinct decrease” in pain and discomfort when it was on. The good news is that everything is healing fine although Moccia is considering some physical therapy as the days stretch out.

 

Plus, it’s getting close to year 39 on the football field. Moccia will be back and already has the schedule.

 

No matter how eventful things get when August rolls around, Moccia probably has seen the worst of it. After all, not only did he break is neck in a game, he finished officiating the game.

 

That, folks, doesn’t happen every day. Heck, it usually doesn't happen every 38 years.

 

Click HERE for a Hudle video showing the collision. Go to the 4:38 mark for the start of the play.

 

EDITOR'S NOTE 1: Moccia asked to give a special thank you to the quarterback for Parkersburg High School, Bryson Singer. He said he was visibly upset after the incident and, four days later, hounded his father to track Moccia down to see how he was doing. Moccia was impressed by the concern of the young man.

 

EDITOR'S NOTE 2: Top photo and third photo are in sequence. The first photo shows Moccia getting initially hit, while the third photo shows his face going into the shoulder pad of the Musselman player. The second photo shows Moccia prior to a 2018 playoff game, while he's shown in the bottom photo after the hit being tended to by members of his crew. Photos courtesy of Vic Moccia.