Mike Carey (American football)

Mike Carey
Born (1949-08-17) August 17, 1949 (age 75)
San Diego, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationSanta Clara University
(Bachelor's degree, 1971)
Occupation(s)NFL official (1990–2013)
Co-owner, Seirus Innovation
SpouseWendy
ChildrenDanica and Drisana

Michael Carey (born August 17, 1949)[1] is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL). His uniform number was 94. Prior to his officiating career, he played college football as a running back for Santa Clara University.

Carey was a respected official in the NFL for his thorough pre-game preparation, professional demeanor, and fair play.[1] In a poll conducted by ESPN in 2008, Carey tied with referee Ed Hochuli for most "best referee" votes among NFL head coaches.[2] He had also ejected the most players in the league among current referees, as of 2002,[3] including incidents involving Sean Taylor and Terrell Suggs. In his nineteenth year as referee with the 2013 NFL season, Carey's officiating crew consisted of umpire Chad Brown, head linesman Mark Baltz, line judge Tim Podraza, field judge Mike Weir, side judge Doug Rosenbaum and back judge Kirk Dornan.[4]

Carey was designated as referee of Super Bowl XLII between the New England Patriots and New York Giants, becoming the first African American referee to receive the prestigious assignment.[5] Carey officiated the same two teams when they played each other during the final week of the 2007 NFL season.[6]

At the time of his retirement, Carey was one of the two senior referees in the NFL, along with Walt Coleman. Carey was promoted in 1995 when the league added the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars and thus needed an extra officiating crew to handle up to 15 games per weekend instead of 14, which had been the case between 1976 and 1994.

  1. ^ a b "Mike Carey Keynotes SCU Convocation" (Press release). Santa Clara University. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  2. ^ Sando, Mike (July 11, 2008). "Rating refs touchy subject for NFL coaches". ESPN. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  3. ^ Attner, Paul (October 7, 2002). "Showing their stripes". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on February 8, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2006.
  4. ^ 2013 NFL officiating crews
  5. ^ "Carey to be first black referee in Super Bowl". Associated Press. January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference SBcrew was invoked but never defined (see the help page).