Editor's note: This is the third interview in a PikesPeakSports.us series on area athletes who have done amazing things in 2012. Read about ultra runner Jason Koop and Ironman age-group world champion Danielle Kehoe.

In 1990, Nathan McCrary played center for the Class 3A State Champion Manitou Springs football team. This year, he is working to help the Denver Broncos ... as one of the team's practice officials.

"I admit I was nervous and a little bit intimidated the first few practices, but it has been an amazing experience," he said.

McCrary, 37, is known in Colorado Springs as a tough runner and gritty mountain bike racer, always pushing at the front of the pack, tearing up his age group and winning a race now and then. And he is community minded. At age 16, he volunteered at the first mountain bike race he attended, and he's motivated to compete just to support area nonprofits. A longtime high school referee, McCrary jumped at the chance to work with the Broncos.

(Photo at right by Stuart Zaas, DenverBroncos.com)

"I replied immediately that I was interested, even though I hadn’t discussed it with my wife, yet."

He and Trinette have been married 14 years and have four kids, Olivia, 13, Grace, 10, Aivan, 8, and Teva, 6.

How did you get the job?
On August 15th this year I got the below e-mail from a fellow football official here in town who had been contacted by the Broncos:

“The Denver Broncos have asked me to provide three officials for certain practices at Dove Valley. A brief summary of what is expected is below. The Broncos want as few people as possible involved so in order to be considered you must commit to at least three of the five dates; guys who can do all five will receive preference. You will have to sign a confidentiality statement because you will obtain knowledge of the Broncos’ playbook.
Duties: Responsibilities during our team practice segment include: Watching for off sides, watching player contact with the receivers and defensive backs and watching for motion. They do not need to blow a whistle (Coach Fox will blow the play dead) all though we do ask for them to bring one. Coach Fox will tell them before practice if there is something specific they are needing to watch for and how liberal he wants them to be with the flags.
Unfortunately, I cannot do this on a first come-first served basis. I need to go with the most quality experience available. Please reply ASAP if you are interested.”

The five practice dates were just for preseason practices and I replied immediately that I was interested, even though I hadn’t discussed it with my wife, yet. I thought I better jump at the chance as it may not ever happen again.  The official who sent the email immediately responded back to me and asked which dates I could go. I said if I’m going to go then I would go for all five dates. He said “deal”. I then discussed it with my wife and thankfully she was excited about the opportunity and was supportive of me doing it.

So I went and officiated at those five preseason practices, which was an awesome experience. After the last preseason practice I went and thanked Coach Fox for the opportunity. He thanked us and said that we did a great job and that we were helping the team and that they were going to discuss if they wanted to have us continue officiating their practices during the regular season. We said we would be happy to continue officiating and to let us know. Sure enough a few days later we got the email saying that wanted us to continue officiating their practices during the season.

You've been a high school football referee for 12 years, what was it like stepping on the field to judge the play of players such as Champ Bailey?

Thankfully all those years of experience helped me to have the confidence in myself that I could do this, plus I knew that this would be one of the best learning opportunities I could ever have to help me get better at officiating.

I admit I was nervous and a little bit intimidated the first few practices, but it has been an amazing experience getting to be on the field just yards away from the players and every once in a while I even get to flag them. When I officiate the practices I always do the back judge position so I actually get to stand right in the middle of the field behind the defense. When I think of that I ask myself how many people actually get to be on the field while the players are running their plays ... and it’s OK to be there?

Thankfully I can run backwards fast (which some of the players and coaches have even noticed) so I can stay out of the players' way. It’s also been fun getting to know the players and coaches. I think I’ve even made some friends there.

I also found out recently that some of the defensive players had come up with a nickname for me. They told me that they call me “flag man”. Of course they always give me a hard time when I flag them but most of the time they do it with a smile on their faces. It probably helps that I have a big smile on my face each time I’m there because it is such a cool experience.

Being the only ones not wearing Broncos apparel at the practices does make you feel a little out of place being there, but when some of the coaches have thanked us for the job we are doing and tell us that we’re helping the team I can’t help but feel amazed and appreciated. I mean, I never thought that I could actually be helping the Denver Broncos!

Another neat thing about this experience is having my parents be excited about me officiating for the Broncos. They have been watching the Broncos play each week and they told me that anytime the Broncos get called for a penalty that they blame me and give me a hard time saying that I need to do a better job officiating at practice!

This has definitely been an interesting and eye opening experience for me. One of my childhood dreams was to play football in the NFL when I grew up, but of course that dream never happened for me. I’ve never even gone to an NFL football game. This experience though has given me a new dream which is to one day become an NFL referee. I came up with this new dream while standing on the field during one of the practices. That night after that practice I called my dad and told him that I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up and that is to be an NFL referee.

You had an interesting experience with Broncos linebacker Wesley Woodyard. Can you share?

It was a pass play to the back of the end zone and Woodyard was covering one of the receivers. Just before the ball got there, Woodyard, who was not playing the ball, made significant contact with the receiver causing pass interference. To me it was one of the easier pass interference calls to make as a lot of times it is so hard to make that split second judgment on whether the contact was significant enough to be pass interference, especially when it all happens so fast

I threw my flag and when Woodyard saw it I could tell he was not happy about it. He then picked up my flag and threw it away from me. In an actual game throwing an officials flag would have been a big no-no.

A few plays later, he came up to me and apologized for throwing my flag. After practice got over the defensive coach asked me if Woodyard had apologized to me. I said he had. The defensive coach said he'd told Woodyard that “They don’t do that, and had told him to apologize to me.” The nice thing about that is Woodyard and I have been friends at practice ever since then.

Most folks never get the opportunity to be around a professional football team practicing and conducting its business. What are your impressions?
I quickly noticed that each of the players and coaches had a job to do and that the only reason I was there was because I had a job to do also. As long as everyone is doing their job correctly then practice is good and is a fun place to be.

I think I’m fortunate that I get to be around the team while they are having a winning season as I think that makes a big difference in how practice goes and in how everyone there treats each other. It’s also been interesting to see how the team has progressed since the preseason and how they are working so much better now as a team.

There is no doubt that pro football players are great athletes with their own skill sets, but you could beat the whole team in a 5K, right?

It’s funny that you asked that because that same thought has gone through my head a few times. Being a competitive person as I am and being at practice with all these competitive players competing against each other I can’t help but think of things that I could compete with them at. I know in a 100-yard dash a lot of those players would beat me, but I would love to challenge them all in a 5K. Maybe we could set that race up sometime!

You've competed in cycling and running events for a long time. What keeps you going?
That’s a good question. My whole life I have always been very active. As a kid I would set up obstacle courses in my back yard and time myself. Sometimes I would get my siblings and the neighbor kids together and we’d create our own race competitions. So I’ve always enjoyed challenging myself and others athletically.

I think one of the main things that keeps me going is knowing that I can still improve and get faster. Another reason is every race is a new challenge to me, whether it’s the new fast guy who shows up, trying to beat my time from last year, or to just see if I can still do it. I also enjoy being around all the good people who compete in and put on all the local cycling and running events.

And I feel like I’m supporting and being a part the local community by participating in the races. One of the first bike races I ever went to I was a volunteer at the race and the race was put on by Andy Bohlmann with Sand Creek Sports. I was only 16 then and that got me interested and hooked on bike racing. Now, here it is 21 years later and Andy and I are still friends and he’s still putting on local bike races that I still enjoy going to and competing at each year. I also feel that I’m setting a good example for my kids and others by keeping myself healthy.

What are your favorite places to run and ride in the Pikes Peak Region?
My favorite mountain bike ride would have to be down Barr Trail from the top of Pikes Peak. I was 18 the first time I rode down Barr Trail and I did it on my BMX bike, it has been my favorite ride ever since then. I also love to mountain bike the Falcon Trail, Rampart Reservoir, Palmer Park, and Ute Valley. My favorite places to run are Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne Mountain State Park, the Falcon Trail, Waldo Canyon, and anywhere on Pikes Peak.

What is your Super Bowl prediction? Give us the teams and final score.
Broncos 31  San Francisco 24