(Editor's Note: Dana Pappas, of the New Mexico Activities Association and member of the NFHS Officials Publications Committee, responds, on behalf of the committee, to the recent incident in Texas where a high school football official was intentionally hit by two players.)

As an officials’ administrator in a state high school association office, it is seldom a good thing when you receive dozens of emails, text messages and shared Facebook film clips saying, “Have you seen this?”

In the 48 hours after a Texas high school football official was physically assaulted by two high school players, I was contacted by officials, coaches and friends from across the country alerting me to the situation and asking my feelings about it.

How do I feel about it? Disgusted. Saddened. Heartbroken. Angered. I am probably feeling things that words cannot describe because from every angle, on every channel or social medium, the actions of those players were deplorable and incomprehensible. The official was providing a community service to players, coaches and schools and got completely blindsided and violently assaulted by kids who apparently thought the official had made “bad calls.”

We had a similar situation in the late 1990s in New Mexico when an official was tackled by a football player in full pads during a high school football game. The official sustained serious injuries, including broken ribs and a punctured lung. This act of cowardice spurred New Mexico officiating leaders to seek officials’ assault legislation from the New Mexico State Legislature. A bill was finally passed into law in 2000. Shortly after that, the official who had been assaulted returned to the field to officiate for a few more years in spite of what had occurred to him.

As I read comments from the general public, I was genuinely appalled and disturbed by some people who applauded the actions of these two athletes. In what context would these actions EVER be acceptable? High school sports are supposed to be the grounds to cultivate sportsmanship and to help young people to become upstanding citizens through the development of positive character traits.

Regardless of calls made or not made on the playing field, what happened in Texas is not acceptable, is against every tenet of every sportsmanship initiative and is, in short, criminal. To see adults applauding and encouraging this act of violence not only disturbed me but made me realize why this incident occurred. Kids learn from somewhere, from somebody and it scares me to think about why the kids involved in this incident did what they did.

What would I do about it? From my desk, I would encourage the official to file criminal charges, first and foremost. Laws are in place in many states to impose more stringent penalties on individuals who assault officials in the line of duty. I would work tirelessly with and actively fight for any official who was in this situation. As state association leaders, officials need our support all the time but especially in times of adversity. I know we all have only seen the video clips that have been shared millions of times, but there is no excuse for what occurred. The actions of those kids were not only inexcusable but indefensible.

My heart hurts for the official who was attacked and for the entire officiating community. The men and women who choose to officiate at the high school level are community servants, who likely spend more than they make to be subjected to verbal – and occasionally physical – abuse. No one in this avocation is doing what they do to get rich. They are doing it because they love sports, they want to give back to their communities and they care about kids. They sacrifice time away from their own families, from their real jobs and from their lives to be a part of something bigger and to provide kids with the opportunity to participate.

Without officials, there can be no games, but that truth seems to get forgotten all too often in the high school setting, where perfection from officials is expected at the start of the game and improvement is likewise expected throughout. All too often, I get calls blaming officials for losses and using the crew as a scapegoat for the poor performance of a team or a coach. Officiating is a tough gig and one that not very many people have the intestinal fortitude to undertake.

High school sports deserve better than what happened in Texas over Labor Day weekend. Our officials deserve better than having to keep their heads on swivels, worrying that they may be the victim of an egregious and malicious act such as this. As officials’ administrators, it is incumbent upon us to support, protect and advocate for our individual officials and our local associations. As state associations, it is vital that schools, coaches and players are continually reminded of the importance of officials in the character education process and that all parties are aware that serious sanctions on players and schools will be enforced for heinous acts such as this.

“Unacceptable” does not begin to describe what occurred. My hope is that out of this horrific incident some positives will emerge. I hope that it will strengthen the resolve of state associations relative to their support of officials’ associations. I hope that it will remind officials of the importance of having each other’s backs and how petty disagreements and “back-biting” in officials’ associations is counterproductive and has no place in interscholastic athletics. This incident should bring officials closer and should remind us all of the importance of our officiating families. This happened to one official but all of us should feel its impact.

May the brothers and sisters who don the stripes band together in support of this victim and may this awful incident increase awareness of the selfless service our officials provide across the country. Not a day goes by that I am not grateful for every official in my state and for officials in every sport, everywhere. Our hats are off to you all. We appreciate you and stand beside you in your battles.