On Feb. 3, 2008, Mike Carey made history just by walking onto a football field.
On that day in Glendale, Arizona, Carey became the first Black referee in a Super Bowl – and it happened to one of the most iconic games in NFL history.
In Super Bowl XLII, New York Giants famously stunned the New England Patriots, 17-14, keeping New England from finishing a historic 19-0 season.
And Carey was there to see it all unfold.
“I’ve always just liked doing what I want to do, and doing it to the best of my ability, all the while knowing that it’s just not for me. I’m carrying so many more with me,” Carey, now 74, told CNN.
Although he’s now retired, Carey said he still feels a sense of euphoria when he watches a televised football game – and he looks forward to watching the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers during Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII.
But being on the field is an experience unlike any other, Carey said, and it leaves a lasting impression.
“That feeling of that much human emotion, that loud – especially when a game is close – it is a euphoria that only players and officials and coaches really know,” he said. “Every second on the field is really heaven.”
Carey’s journey to the football field began as a child in his hometown of San Diego, California, where he listened to Rams games on the radio. He said he was inspired by late NFL legend and activist Jim Brown, who re-wrote the NFL record books in the 1950s and ‘60s.
After high school, Carey attended Santa Clara University where he was a running back on the football team. Carey said he considered coaching after college but was convinced by a friend to officiate the game he loved instead.
“I wanted just to give back to the game of football,” he said of his decision to become a referee.
“Just like any team sport or any team organization, when you rely on each other for success, it gives you so much more than yourself. It turned out to be one of the most rewarding things and best areas for character development that I’d ever experienced.”
Carey joined the NFL as a side judge in 1990. By the 1995 season, he had moved up to referee, the person in charge of leading an officiating crew. And after 18 years as an NFL official, Carey was given the most prestigious assignment in the league for referees: officiating Super Bowl XLII.
During the 2007 NFL season, the Patriots became the first team in league history to finish the regular season 16-0. They were heavily favored to beat the Giants in Glendale at what is today known as State Farm Stadium, the home of the Arizona Cardinals.
But there would be no historic 19-0 season for New England. In one of the most famous moments in NFL history, Giants quarterback Eli Manning memorably escaped the grasp of the Patriots defense and completed a long pass down the field to wide receiver David Tyree. The Giants would go on to score a game-winning touchdown to clinch the victory 17-14.
Carey said he still faces criticism from strangers and fans for not calling a sack on Manning, but he stands by the call.
“Every decision an official makes, half the people agree with them, and half the people don’t,” he said. “When Eli was getting pulled backwards, I lost my vision of him for a few seconds. I had to run around the pile to regain it and he was being approached by other linemen.
“It would’ve been easy for me to say, ‘He was in the grass last I seen him. I see somebody threatening him, call it a sack.’ And I think the league would’ve gone along with it, but it wouldn’t have been the right call.”
