Allen Baynes will never forget a phone call he received on Jan. 23.

The 1999 Auburn University graduate had been waiting for that call for years, and it brought with it a feeling he had never experienced. It was the call to tell him he had been chosen to officiate his first career Super Bowl.

Baynes, a Tallassee native, was selected as a side judge for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 11. A 16-year-veteran National Football League (NFL) official, Baynes had worked the AFC Championship Game and NFC Championship Game twice apiece but had never been selected for the “big game.”

“I was getting ready to go to the cell phone store for a new case and cover for my phone, and the phone rang,” Baynes said. “It was my position supervisor, Doug Rosenbaum, and he said, ‘I’ve got some good and bad news for you.’ I said, ‘Well, give me the bad news first.’ He said, ‘keep your travel bag out because you’re still traveling, and the good news is that you’ve had a great year and you’re being assigned to work the Super Bowl.’

“It was so special to call my wife and tell her, and there were a lot of tears and a lot of excitement. Calling my dad was something really special, too, and it is one of those moments in your life you’ll never forget.”

Baynes was the third person in his family to officiate a Super Bowl.

His brothers, Rusty and Mark, are both Auburn University at Montgomery graduates who have worked as officials. Their father, Ronnie Baynes, not only rose to the level of NFL official but worked Super Bowl XXIX in 1995 and Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999 before taking a leadership role in the league as head of officials. Rusty Baynes also rose to the rank of NFL official and has two Super Bowls on his résumé, Super Bowl 50 in 2016 and Super Bowl LV in 2021.

“I feel like I can sit at the big kids’ table now,” Baynes said of joining his father and brother as Super Bowl officials. “The funny thing is that, with Super Bowl XXXIII between the Broncos and the Falcons, you had a Shanahan coaching, a McCaffrey playing and a Baynes officiating, and we had the same thing this year. Christian McCaffrey said it was like we’ve come full circle, and we thought that was neat.”

In 2023, Baynes joined his father and brother Rusty as a member of the Alabama Sports Officials Hall of Fame.

Allen Baynes, a 1999 Auburn graduate, made sure to represent his alma mater on the field during Super Bowl LVIII pregame rehearsals in Las Vegas. (Courtesy of Allen Baynes)

Experience of a lifetime

The game and everything around it matched the hype for Baynes, who was able to share the experience with his family. From the Las Vegas mystique and myriad events during Super Bowl week to pregame rehearsal, where he had the chance to meet country music legend Reba McEntire, Baynes relished his time in the Entertainment Capital of the World. The game itself also was a thrill he will not soon forget.

“It lived up to the dreams I had for working that game,” said Baynes, who wears No. 56 like his father. “My wife and kids had a blast, but I was there on a work trip. The league took care of us, and it was just a top-notch event.”

Baynes has the distinction of officiating one of just two Super Bowls to go to overtime — the other being Super Bowl LI in 2016 — a game won by the Chiefs in thrilling fashion. Customarily, officials hurry off the field following a game, but Baynes said he and the rest of the seven-man officiating crew stayed around a bit to take in the atmosphere at Allegiant Stadium after the Chiefs’ win.

“Some veteran officials told us to not be in a hurry to leave that field because that confetti is just as much yours as it is the team’s that won the game,” he said. “Everyone on TV is watching the team celebrate, but if you look in the background, you see a group of officials exchanging handshakes and hugs because we’d worked a really good game, worked hard to get there, and then it was time to enjoy it. It was a feeling like I’ve never had, to be able to look up in the stands and see my parents, my wife and my kids up there.”

Auburn University alumnus Allen Baynes, eighth from left, poses with other NFL officials before Super Bowl LVIII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas. (Ben Liebenberg / NFL)

Laying the foundation

The youngest of six children, Baynes grew up watching his father officiate football games and coach baseball. Baynes began working as a football official in 1995 while a student at Auburn, refereeing high school and intramural games. After graduating in 1999, Baynes spent two years as assistant baseball coach under his father at Central Alabama Community College before going into real estate, a field in which he still works when he’s not officiating.

Baynes kept working high school games as well to get experience, leading to his professional break in 2000 with the Chicago-based Arena Football League II. After a two-year stint there, Baynes began working for Conference USA in 2001 and also officiated games for the Arena Football League and NFL Europe, working five seasons in places like Scotland, Germany, Amsterdam and Barcelona, Spain.

He kept going strong with the Conference USA and Arena Football League gigs until 2008, when he was “called up” to the NFL. Baynes worked his first NFL playoff game in 2010 and has officiated nearly a dozen postseason games during his career.

One of his most treasured memories, though, came from a UAB spring game in which he was part of a crew that included his father and his brothers, Rusty and Mark.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Baynes, who began working exclusively as a side judge in 2002. “It was one of the best moments we’ve had as a group.”

He remembers looking to his father for guidance early and often as a mentor.

“It’s an interesting dynamic for a job because you’ve just known all about it from Day One from having a father who did it,” Baynes said. “He’s always told us that the most important game is preseason Week 1 because that means you’ve done a good enough job to be invited back. I’ve always carried that with me.”

From left, Rusty, Ron, Allen and Mark Baynes work the same officiating crew at a 2007 UAB scrimmage. (Courtesy of Allen Baynes)

Living the job

Through the years, Baynes also has acquired ample football administrative experience, working as a trainer and grader for the Southern Football Conference, serving as director of officiating for the Professional Indoor Football League, and instructing and speaking at camps, academies and clinics.

“It’s neat to get to work with the officials who are just getting started and to be able to give them some pointers that people have given me along the way,” Baynes said. “Hopefully, I can help them reach the level they’re shooting for.”

He and his fellow NFL officials stay current on the ever-changing rules through regular education sessions and seminars.

“We get evaluated every game, and every play gets graded,” Baynes said. “My family usually knows what kind of mood I’m in based on the game report that came in from the league. That’s how our performance is evaluated, and that determines who gets to work the postseason games.”

The travel can be tiresome, as can the weekly film-review sessions, but Baynes still enjoys it immensely. Even if coaches pepper him with high-decibel feedback, Baynes knows it’s just part of the deal.

“Communication is the key,” Baynes said. “I don’t mind if a coach gets upset, and I’ll let him vent and we’ll talk. There are times when they have a right to get a little frustrated, and you go over and talk to them, but just don’t let them cross the line and get personal. I’ve been fortunate to have some good relationships with coaches, and I think my background as a coach helps with that.”

Instant replay and other technology, like wireless headsets that let officials communicate with one another quickly and efficiently, have enhanced officials’ capabilities.

“The technology is available, and I want whatever tool I can use to get it right for the coaches and the players,” Baynes said. “There’s a balance with it because there needs to be a flow to the game and nobody wants the game interrupted every two plays, but if we can work in technology to help us be efficient and get it right, that’s what we want.”

Allen Baynes enjoys some family time with, from left, his daughter, Mary Carleton, son, Mason, and wife, Christy, while in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII. (Courtesy of Allen Baynes)

Path to the Plains

Baynes’ father and three of his sisters graduated from Auburn, and while his mother attended “that other” state school, he knew the Plains was the place for him after growing up attending football games at Jordan-Hare Stadium. He majored in Spanish while working summer baseball programs with his father.

Now based in Birmingham, he serves as chief financial officer and senior real estate specialist for LifeCare Solutions, owned and operated by his wife, Christy, and as senior real estate specialist for LAH Real Estate.

He and his wife enjoy spending time with their daughter, Mary Carleton, who will attend Auburn in the fall, and son, Mason, a first-year high school student.

Family and football are central themes for anyone with the Baynes surname.

“My parents have 11 grandkids, and three of them have just started to officiate, so there’s a third generation that is working high school games,” Baynes said.

This story previously appeared on Auburn University’s website.