While Chicago Bears fans deflated watching quarterback Mitch Trubisky struggle in a 10-3 opening-night loss to the Green Bay Packers, the referees were full of exuberance.

The emphatic “first down!” calls launched by referee Tony Corrente threw some people off. There were claims on Twitter of the crew betting on the Bears, preferring to sing and changing professions to become a PA announcer instead.

This ref has been waiting to make the first down call for months pic.twitter.com/6bzbJfSbhS — The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 6, 2019

Rather, Corrente was elongating the “dooooooown” in his calls to honor longtime NFL referee Red Cashion. Cashion died in February after a 25-year career as an official and made the multiple-o “first down” call famous.

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In an interview re-shared by the NFL the day he died, Cashion said he started the call after hearing how his calm demeanor was interpreted.

“Some of the coaches think you’re not interested enough in what’s going on. And I thought at that time, I’ve got to do something to demonstrate some enthusiasm for what’s going on.”

Ironically enough, it’s now viewed as refs being too interested in what’s happening.

25 years as an @NFL official. Two @SuperBowl appearances. And one memorable "First down!" call. Today, we honor the life of longtime referee Red Cashion. pic.twitter.com/wI03DhREEX — NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) February 11, 2019

Cashion started his officiating career in college doing junior high games. He joined the NFL as a line judge in 1972 and moved into the ref job in 1976.

After retiring he served as the referee’s voice on Madden NFL and trained new NFL referees until 2014.

Referee Tony Corrente honored late ref Red Cashion during the Packers vs. Bears game on opening night. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images) More

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