correction
The Sept. 22 obituary of Leo Miles incorrectly listed the number of his surviving children. There are four: Sultana, Recita Theresa, Damita and Leo Jr. (Published 10/13/95)
Leo Miles, 64, longtime Howard University athletic director and a National Football League supervisor of game officials, died Sept. 21 of a heart attack at Arlington Hospital.
Mr. Miles was a game official in the NFL for 22 years, from 1969 to 1990. He worked 15 playoff games and three Super Bowls, becoming in 1974 the first African American official to work a Super Bowl game. Since 1990, he had served as a supervisor, evaluating the performance of on-field officials.
Mr. Miles, a native of Washington, spent 16 years directing the men's and women's sports programs at Howard. He came in on the ground floor in 1970 as the school's first full-time athletic director, moving the school into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as a charter member and eventually guiding it into Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He supervised the establishment of the first athletic scholarships at Howard, then built a strong women's program to go with men's sports.
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With the good times -- and the nationally recognized soccer program, in particular, provided many -- came some bad. The Bison were forced to vacate a 1973 NCAA soccer title through use of an ineligible player, and they drew a year's probation in 1978 because of problems in eligibility and financial aid in four sports.
Mr. Miles never backed away from the challenge, however. After he retired from Howard in 1986, he was persuaded to serve as interim athletic director at the University of the District of Columbia in 1990. It was a hard task, with a program in tatters, but he tried to straighten it out, saying, "The program needed me, and I felt an obligation to contribute to the District of Columbia. I see it sort of like helping an old lady across the street."
Mr. Miles attended Virginia State University, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees. Twice he was an all-America running back, and he became the first man to receive all-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors on both offense and defense. He also lettered in basketball and baseball.
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In 1953, after graduation from college, Mr. Miles was a running back for the New York Giants of the NFL. Then he became a teacher and coach in the District public schools, guiding highly successful football and track teams at Bell Vocational High School. His Bell football teams won three consecutive DCIAA championships from 1964 to 1966.
Mr. Miles is enshrined in the halls of fame of Virginia State University, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Eastern Board of Officials and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
Survivors include his wife, Recita Williams, and five children, Sultana, Recita, Theresa, Damita and Leo Jr. CAPTION: LEO MILES
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