Ken Baker received the first call that changed his life this school year nearly 720 miles away from Charleston.

He sat in the press box at M&T Bank Stadium, the 71,008-seat home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, a few hours before the start of a Sunday night preseason game on Aug. 19. The Ravens were scheduled to play the New York Giants, a game in which he had to work as an NFL replay official.

Baker then received a call on his cell phone from Eastern President Bill Perry.

A week earlier, no one knew this phone call would transpire. That was when Eastern still employed Rich McDuffie as its full-time athletic director.

But Perry relieved McDuffie of his duties on Aug. 13 and placed him on administrative leave, seven days before the start of classes.

Perry called Baker because he needed an interim athletic director, and he needed one soon.

Baker was one of the three finalists for the interim position, along with Gail Richard and Larry Ankenbrand.

Perry said Baker’s understanding of Eastern athletics, plus the positive feedback he received from people on campus about Baker, made him his choice to fill the void.

“When you consider an interim or permanent, it’s a competition,” Perry said. “And the people who have been nominated and put forth, you look at all their characteristics and pick the best person.”

That person was Baker, who officially started his job as interim AD on Aug 21.

Baker had just finished lunch at the Thomas Hall cafeteria on a mid-January weekday when he received the second phone call that changed his life this school year.

The NFL’s director of officiating operations Dean Blandino called while Baker was on the tennis courts near Lantz Arena with news that Baker would work Super Bowl XLII.

“I had been waiting a long time for this call,” said Baker, who has worked 16 years as an NFL official.

Baker will return to his position as Campus Recreation Director once new athletic director Barbara Burke assumes her role June 1. He said he had no plans to become a permanent hire at the athletic director spot, and will step aside graciously once Burke starts.

“Unfortunately, a lot of our politicians make decisions based on getting re-elected,” Baker said. “Well, I wasn’t running for office. I came in, stepped in with no agenda and just one thing in mind and that’s doing what’s best for the university, the department and the student-athletes.”

It was Baker’s work with the athletic department to repair the damaged public perception following McDuffie’s removal, combined with the fact he worked one of the most memorable Super Bowls ever, that made him The Daily Eastern News’ 2008 Person of the Year.

Lending the helping hand

Mike Heimerdinger can partially thank Baker for the role he played in helping Heimerdinger meet his future wife Kathie.

Heimerdinger, the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, and Baker have known each other for nearly 40 years, dating back to their time together on Eastern’s baseball team in the early 1970s. Back when the two attended Eastern, freshmen couldn’t have a vehicle, so Baker, a few years older than Heimerdinger, drove Kathie and Mike on their first official date.

“And ‘Dinger’s still married to Kathie and Mike Shannahan’s still married to Peggy and I’m still married to Sandy, and we were all in the same fraternity,” Baker said. “So that was the greatest success of all three of us, staying married. We all married our college sweethearts.”

Heimerdinger, who’s coached in the NFL for 13 seasons, said the two talked often this year, more so than they have in the past, because of Baker’s role as interim AD. Before Baker took on that role, however, Heimerdinger said he would only talk to Baker if he happened to be at the same game. Heimerdinger said he found out coaches couldn’t talk to officials during the season on the phone, so the two long-time friends stopped that a while ago.

“What he did as an official in this league is work his way up the league,” Heimerdinger said. “You have to have quite a reputation in that league and I don’t know anybody that doesn’t like Ken Baker.”

Lou Hencken didn’t start playing golf until he became Eastern’s President in 2001. At first, he was terrible, but Baker worked with him to develop his golf game, Hencken said.

Although Hencken said by no means is he a good golfer, even to this day, Baker’s help made him enjoy the game more.

“He usually hits (his drives) straight down the middle,” Hencken said. “Takes a long time on his putts. I go up, hit it, I’m not going to make it. Whereas Ken goes up, he’s like Tiger Woods. He’ll walk around, take a look at this and more times than not, he’ll make it.”

John Smith’s enthusiasm for his job had started to wane. Eastern’s associate athletic director since 2002, who has worked in an administrative level with Eastern’s athletic department since 1997, was tired of asking people for their money to support Eastern athletics.

“That wears on you,” he said. “Eleven years of that, you get tired of always going to people and going back to the same people and having an agenda that you have to try and give again, give again. What he did for me in terms of fundraising was allowed me to go out and thank people. It was like he took the handcuffs off me.”

Baker is quick to downplay any of his work in the athletic department this year and says numerous other people have contributed more than he has. But Smith, whose office is separated from Baker’s by only by a wall at Lantz Arena, said Baker has left his influence on the athletic department.

“He really brought the program some enthusiasm,” Smith said. “And I know he got a lot of people excited and he rejuvenated me.”

The transition

Sexual harassment allegations against McDuffie leveled by former Eastern athletic department employee Pam Collins appeared in the Aug. 8 edition of the Charleston Times-Courier. It was the first time the public had heard of these allegations. Five days later, McDuffie was out of a job.

Baker said he knew coming into his role of interim AD wouldn’t be particularly easy.

“I think I was a safe choice,” he said. “People knew me. I’ve worked with a lot of people across campus and really respect and appreciate what it takes to make this university run.”

Baker was supposed to start the job Aug. 20, but he couldn’t get back to Charleston late that night because of travel problems on his way home from Baltimore.

He said he leaned on the athletic department staff early to learn the intricacies of his new job, and said he had a “very steep learning curve when it comes to NCAA rules.”

“I didn’t want one of my actions to create a problem for the university or embarrass the university,” he said.

One aspect of his new position that worried Baker was his commitment to the NFL. Baker has worked the last five seasons as a replay official and most of his weekends in the fall are filled while he works for the NFL. Hencken, who lives in the same subdivision, five houses away from Baker, and served as Eastern’s interim AD in the 1996-97 school year, said one of Baker’s biggest worries was balancing his time between the two positions. Baker wasn’t sure how many Eastern football games, along with other weekend athletic events, he would be able to attend because of his replay job.

Hencken said he advised Baker to stay at Eastern during Hall of Fame weekend, which this year featured not only the induction of six former athletes but also a home football game, the first NCAA women’s rugby game, a cross country meet and two women’s soccer games, and Homecoming weekend.

“I think I made all but one of the home football games,” Baker said.

Hencken told Baker before he accepted the job that even if he couldn’t be here every weekend for athletic events, his role was much bigger.

“The department was such that it just needed a calming effect for a while,” Hencken said. “What they needed was someone who had a wonderful reputation at the university and whether what had happened before (involving McDuffie) occurred or not, there was the perception. So therefore, you needed someone above reproach, somebody whose ethics and character were above question. I think Ken was really a good stepping-stone.”

During his tenure, Baker has overseen the renovations to the football locker room and plans for a brick backstop at Williams Field, home of Eastern softball. He also started to give money each program raised back to the individual program and not just to the athletic department, something Baker said had been done in the past

“Ken has brought stability and a calming influence at a time when both were important for the department,” said Jon Steinbrecher, commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Super Bowl

Baker said 26 cameras, all from different angles, were pointed on David Tyree when the Giants’ wide receiver came down with the improbable catch in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLII. This gave him and the replay crew enough time to look before the next play was called and rule Tyree’s catch was indeed a catch.

“What meant the most was it was just a great football game,” Baker said of the Giants’ 17-14 win against the previously undefeated Patriots. “Tom Brady did what he needed to do and Eli (Manning) did what he needed to do. You know (the Super Bowl) is big, but by the time you get there, you’ve worked a lot of big games. The thing that makes it more difficult is the routine’s different, the security’s different. But once the game starts, it’s no different.”

Baker said he had a feeling he’d get selected to go, but still didn’t believe it until after he received the phone call from Blandino. The NFL grades replay officials after every game, and Baker’s reports came back each week with high scores.

“Sometimes you have great years and you don’t get the call,” he said. “Lot of guys have great years and don’t get the call.”

The first person Baker called after receiving the news was his wife, Sandy. Sandy then brought some family members to Lantz to celebrate the news with Ken.

Sandy has worked on a scrapbook about Ken’s experience at the Super Bowl, and just finished it this week.

“Now I can clean the house,” Sandy joked. “Our son-in-law took a lot of pictures for us. My daughter taught me how to scrapbook. It’s turned into what I hope is a real memory for the family.”

Ken said he took his entire family on the trip, including his 3-year-old grandson, Josh.

“We paid $700 for the 3-year-old’s ticket and he enjoyed the popcorn and the confetti,” Ken said.

Hencken said he watched the game while on vacation in Florida and started to get excited around a roomful of strangers when a play needed to be reviewed.

“People around me are like, ‘What’s wrong with this guy? I’ve never seen a guy get so excited about a play,'” Hencken said. “Then the announcers are like, ‘This is an obvious call.’ So then it’s, ‘Please Ken, get this right.’ And of course he did, as he did nearly every call this year.”

Balancing it all

Ken and Sandy recently celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary on April 6. But Ken wasn’t around Sandy for most of the day because he attended several Eastern sporting events. He still keeps an active tab on what is going on with Campus Recreation, and is eager to concentrate his full responsibilities on that job shortly. Just last week, he delivered a 15-minute presentation to Student Senate about a possible student fee increase in relation to Campus Recreation next year.

But Sandy has become accustomed to Ken’s busy lifestyle.

“We’ve managed to keep a strong family life even with him gone,” Sandy said. “I’ve just been so proud of him throughout the years with what he’s managed to do with his life, being a young man growing up in Charleston. Just being the kind person he is. That counts for an awful lot. Even though he is gone a lot, he is doing good things.”

Hencken said when he eats breakfast, usually around 7:30 a.m., he sees Ken driving into work, and when he has dinner around 6:30 p.m., he usually sees Ken driving home from work.

Perry said he thinks Ken saw this opportunity as a service to Eastern, even though he knew it would take up more of his time.

“I’ll bet, in the timeframe he’s been here, that there hasn’t been a handful of times that I haven’t walked in the door that he hasn’t been in his office,” Smith said. “It’s really funny, when he does leave around 5 p.m. sometimes, it’s almost like he’s apologizing.”

Ken retired as a field official in the NFL after the 2001 season. He took a year off to be with his family, as he had to deal with his mother’s death and his mother-in-law’s death.

“I needed to be with my family,” Ken said. “I was out for a year and they asked if I’d come back and do replay. And the rest is history.”

History is a word that can define Ken’s life the past eight months. Whether it was reversing the recent unpleasant history in the inner workings of the athletic department, generating money to fund new football locker rooms, officiating in one of the most memorable Super Bowls or quietly stepping out of the stoplight to let Burke fully take control of the position, he’s certainly set precedents and standards at Eastern.

“If everybody in the world was like Ken Baker, we wouldn’t need police or armies because he’s such a great person,” Hencken said. “And Eastern’s very fortunate to have him, and we were this year especially.”

Biography:

Ken Baker has lived in Charleston nearly his entire life. He went to Charleston High School. He attended Eastern and received his bachelor’s degree in physical education and master’s degree in the same field from Eastern. Baker Gymnasium at Charleston High School is named after Ken’s father, Merv, who compiled 557 wins at the high school level at four different schools, with the majority coming at Charleston. He even met his future wife, Sandy, while pulling a float for her sorority in Eastern’s Homecoming parade in the early 1970s. But for a man that has lived most of his life in east-central Illinois, he has plenty of worldly stories to tell – as do others.

Ken on meeting Michael Jordan while officiating a Chicago Bears game at Soldier Field:

“We were in Bears Quarter. It’s a secure quarter so nobody can be in there. I go to get the teams before the ball game and tell them it’s three minutes before kickoff. I’m standing there facing the locker room door and somebody comes up and taps me on the shoulder and says ‘Have a good game, ref.’ I turn around and I still remember the first thing I said was ‘Michael?’ And so he was there, I still remember what he was wearing, had blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a leather coat on. And he started talking. I always tell people it’s difficult for Michael Jordan to go anywhere that people don’t want something from him. You’ve got to be very lonely to visit with a referee. And we were talking back and forth. And I had my game card in my hand. And he said ‘What’s that in your hand?’ I said ‘Well, that’s my game card.’ And I handed it to him and he started looking at it and unfolding it. And he said ‘I always wondered what you guys were writing on out there.’ I said ‘Well, as long as you’ve got it, you might as well sign it there.’ And he said ‘Well, where do you want me to sign it?’ I said ‘Sign it down at the bottom, I’ve still got to use it.’ And I didn’t use that card. It’s in a lockbox right now. It was really a human side of one of the great superstars of our time and he just wanted to visit.”

Ken on growing up in Charleston:

“Since 1954 I’ve been here. I used to ride my tricycle up and down Lincoln. It was a two-lane road back then. I’d get in trouble for it, but I’d still do it I remember trick or treating at Coach Lantz’s* house. So all these people that these buildings are named after, we knew most of them.”

*Note: Coach Lantz is Charles Lantz, Eastern’s athletic director from 1911-1952 and for whom Lantz Arena is named after.

Hencken on trips to Steak ‘N Shake with Ken and how Ken likes his crackers:

“If we go and eat at Steak ‘N Shake, he likes his hamburgers, no cheese, mustard only and he gets a soda with lots of ice. If he gets crackers, he likes his crackers a certain way. You have to break the crackers up a certain way. So when Jeff Cooley (Eastern’s vice president for business affairs) and I would go eat with Ken and we’d go on a Steak ‘N Shake run, we’d always try and run to get to the backseat, because whoever sat in the front seat had to do the crackers. And if a cracker’s too thick, Ken would say ‘Well, I could choke to death.'”

Hencken on Ken’s attitude about a freshman football game he referred in the 1980s:

“We drove to Paris, Illinois and before the game started, Ken is in there polishing his shoes. And this is a freshman game. And one of the guys who worked the chain came in and he says ‘There’s time guys show up and they might not have any shoes on.’ Ken said ‘Tonight, this is the most important game for these freshmen and sophomores. So therefore, it’s important that we look our best and do our best.'”

Smith on Ken being a replay official for the Bears-Cowboys game this past NFL season, which featured Eastern alumnus Tony Romo as the Cowboys starting quarterback:

“I was a little nervous at that time that there might be a questionable call for him that he would have to make and that if it did go against the Bears and it was even questionable, people might think perception, well Tony Romo’s an Eastern kid. But obviously, knowing Ken, he’s going to make the right call. He doesn’t care if it’s his son playing quarterback. That’s the way Ken is.”

Caption: Interim Athletic Director Ken Baker receives the game ball from Eastern running back Norris Smith during Eastern’s spring football game on April 19 at O’Brien stadium. Baker was awarded the ball as a thank you for helping the football team sign a New Balance contract and for overseeing the football locker room renovations. (Nora Maberry | The Daily Eastern News).

Matt Daniels can be reached at 581-7936 or at mwdaniels@eiu.edu.

Person of the Year: Ken Baker

(more…)