 He spent several years officiating at the collegiate level in the Pac-8 (now known as the Pac-12).In the Pac-8, Silva officiated basketball games involving Lew Alcindor (better known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), who played for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins from 1965 to 1969.Silva joined the NFL in 1968 as a line judge on legendary referee Jim Tunney's officiating crew and was promoted to referee in 1969.