ALFRED, NY — Alfred University alumnus Bill Schuster '81, former Saxon football standout and member of the AU Athletic Hall of Fame, will be on the officiating crew for this Sunday's NFC Championship game in Seattle.

Schuster will be the umpire in Saturday's NFC title game between the San Francisco 49ers and host Seattle Seahawks. Kickoff for the game is 6:30 p.m.

The 14-year veteran official is featured in a Monday Morning Quarterback blog posted today on Sports Illustrated's website by SI's noted NFL writer Peter King, in advance of Sunday's conference championship games.

Schuster's football officiating career began shortly after he graduated from Alfred in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He was a four-year starter (1976-79) at offensive end at Alfred, catching a then school career-record

He officiated several years at the high school level, and in 1988 also began working Division III collegiate games for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). In 1992 he was promoted by the ECAC to work Division I-AA games and five years later was chosen to officiate games for NFL Europe. In 1998, he began a two-year stint as an umpire working Division I games in the Big East Conference before getting his big break in 2000, when he was appointed umpire on an NFL officiating crew.

Schuster is one of two AU alumni to have officiated in the NFL, along with the late Norm Schachter '37. An NFL referee from 1954-76, Schachter was referee for three Super Bowls (I, V and X). He was also the referee for the 1967 NFL championship "Ice Bowl" game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers and for the very first Monday Night Football game, in 1970.