Jim Tunney, a legendary referee for the National Football League (NFL), has passed away at the age of 95. 

According to the Los Angeles Times, Tunney is actually the second NFL official to recently pass away. The other is Al Jury. There will be more on this later.

Tunney, according to the Times, died on Thursday at his home in California.

Per the outlet, "Tunney, who at 95 was the oldest living retired referee, died Thursday at his home in Pebble Beach, Calif."

Who was Jim Tunney?

According to the New York Post, "Tunney worked over 400 NFL games from 1960 to 1990, including serving as a ref for three Super Bowls."

He has been described by some as the Babe Ruth of officiating.

Here is how Walt Anderson, another NFL referee, put it:

For decades, he was not only an exceptional referee, but a credit to the entire officiating profession. He took the time to mentor young referees and his tremendous integrity earned him the respect of the entire football community, especially those who played and coached the sport at the highest level. Jim Tunney was a legend in officiating.

More details

MARCA reports:

Tunney began his NFL career in 1960, after turning down an invitation to join the new AFL. In the first six years he was a field judge and was a referee until he retired in 1990, to have along with Ben Dreith the record for most years of service in the NFL.

Tunney according to the outlet, is one of seven referees who has been recognized for having officiated for more than 30 years. In that time he called roughly 444 games.

The Post describes Tunney most famous call during his time as an NFL referee.

Per the outlet:

Perhaps his most famous call was ruling a Packers field goal attempt by Don Chandler in the 1965 playoffs good — though it was possibly wide right. Green Bay tied the game and beat Don Shula’s Colts in overtime.

Another major accomplishment of Tunney's was being the first referee named to the All-Madden team.

The passing of Al Jury

As mentioned earlier, Tunney is the second NFL official to recently pass away.

The Times reports:

[Al] Jury died at 83 in San Bernardino, his hometown, and was regarded as one of the NFL’s premier downfield officials. He worked a record-tying five Super Bowls and almost certainly would have been on the field for more had he not suffered a career-ending broken leg during a game in 2003.