Super Bowl Referee
 

Mike Carey will become the first Black to referee a Super Bowl.

Good for him.

He's a good official.

Is it really a big deal? I mean imho everything from NY's week 17 nearmiracle against NE to NE "miraculous" season to spygate, to which team the alternate referree's cat picks will be scrutinized in the media over the next 2 weeks, as I'm sure if and when this becomes public media knowledge it probably will as well. But should it? I mean aren't the official's invisible, and shouldn't they be? Shouldn't the "color" of their shirt say something about their "color." I had the privilege of meeting Mike Carey in the locker room at the RCA DOme in Indy a few years ago, great guy, I honestly think if (and when) people make a big deal out of this it will be a sad day. Its about the New York Giants trying to slay Goliath (puns abounding). Its about Eli Manning following in his brother's footsteps, its about Tom Brady being on the cover of SI, it is not about the officials and definately not their color.

My rant, endeth here.

R- Mike Carey (1st SB)
U- Tony Michalek (1st SB)
HL- Gary Slaughter (2nd - XXXIX)
LJ- Carl Johnson (1st SB)
BJ- Scott Helverson (1st SB)
FJ- Boris Cheek (1st SB)
SJ- Larry Rose (1st SB)

Alternates: Walt Coleman, Dan Ferrel, Ed Camp, Carl Cheffers, Greg Steed

And yet...this forum is about officiating.

Minor plot point to the Super Bowl.

Interesting side note here.

And the identity of the Super Bowl referee is something people here like to talk about. The fact that he's African-American, while somewhat noteworthy, is less so than when Doug Williams broke that particular barrier for quarterbacks 20 years ago. Luckily.

But it's still appropriate here. Though I do see your point in a general sense.

I tend to think each of us on this forum are serious about their officiating and if we have children we will encourage thenm to take it up.

Well, what if you are not of the majority race of this country. You might well not aspire to that position because the thought is you can never make it to the top because you do not see any examples. You have to realize that is the story of Gene Washington QB at Stanford who switched to wide receiver to make it in the NFL. Or, look at the long road of Tony Dungy an outstanding QB at Minnesota who did not get drafted. Doug Williams, Burl Toler, Jackie Robinson, Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith all became examples of achievement in spite of the odds.

Often before these folks there was that adage of intelligence or lack of and their ascending proves it wrong.

All I've heard Mike Carey is an excellent referee who takes the game seriously. He is an excellent example of achievement and worth every bit of ink or pixel expended to mark this achievement. Maybe, just maybe, some youngster out there will see Mike Carey and dream a dream of being there someday.

Luckily the officials do not attend media day so we will be spared of some ignoramus question like “how long have you been a black referee?”

As I stated on the other topic, I think he has some of the best signals and verbal communication in the game.

It was a simple statement of a fact.
You made it into something far much bigger.

Being that this is MLK Day, I think it is appropriate to note that Mike Carey has made it to the top. It's the SECOND black to do the game that will cause us to not make a big deal.

As for the names mentioned above, don't forget Emmett Ashford and Larry Doby, 2 of my favorites.

Way to go Mike and have a great game!

The Doug Williams story is apocryphal.

This has to be the post of the week for me. :D

Peace

I want all to know, I do appreciate Mike Carey's accomplishment, and I recognize that this forum is of officials, for officials and by officials. My post was simply as I stated a rant regarding an inappropriate shift of emphasis.

I worked a basketball game a few years ago with a gentleman who was also to sing the national anthem before the game, and while he was a very talented vocalist, I just like to keep the attention off the officials and everything about them, from voice to color.

I believe the best officials in the business do not have names, and do their entire job without anyone knowing they were there.

That is all I am saying.

That sounds great but those days are over. From the internet, to TV to fellow officials, the days of the anonymous official are over. First of all people can recognize officials. And with all these TV stations covering every game imaginable, even if you wanted to keep officials in the background, people will know who they are. You are going to tell me people are not going to recognize Dick Beavetta in the NBA? Or and Ed Hoculli in the NFL? Or at Joe West in the Majors? Or an Ed Hightower and Lisa Mattingly at the D1 Basketball levels? It is not going to happen. I have even been recognized when I work local games and I did not say a word. There is too much media, video tape and internet sites dedicated to knowing who worked where and when. I heard this information about Carey on the radio while driving to a game. Maybe that was a good thing years ago, but knowing who the people are adds credibility to the contest if you ask me. People know who has worked big games in the past and they know who can handle them in the future. You are not going to get that Genie back in the bottle again. It is just not going to happen. We definitely talk about it here. What do you think the fans talk about when they see certain officials?

Who? If you are referring to Carey, you are obviously joking.

I do not think he is joking, and I agree that R 94 Carey has among the best signals in the NFL.

Right now, I think there are *many* strong Referees in the NFL. To be selected among them is quite an accomplishment. I think that in the future, R 85 Hochuli will replace Pereira.

I also think that R ?? Steratore will be among the top NFL Referees ever. Parry and Boger are showing that they'll have fantastic careers as well. With R 77 McAulay and R 42 Triplette and R 99 Corrente, imho, the officiating in the NFL will be superb in the years to come.

He will not replace him. He will lift up the building in New York in which Pereira works and shake it until he falls out.

A lot of what goes into being a good R is the communication factor when using the mic. Good clear voice that's easy to understand. IMO Steratore is one of the best on the mic. Carey tends to leave you in suspense, sort of a delay in giving the direction of the fouling team. Something like, "Holding, #25 (delay) Defense..." No complaints about that as it adds a bit of mystery to which way he's going to signal.

Congrats to Mike Carey!!!

For some reason I always thought Johnny Grier worked a Super Bowl.

I believe he did work the Super Bowl, but it was not as the Referee.

Peace

You're right JRut. I looked it up. He was the field judge in Super Bowl XXII.

He's a great ref, and it's a great accomplishment.

Is it really bad to observe that, for complicated reasons, we still unfortunately live in a world where young african americans need more positive role models? Color blindness is the goal, but we're not there yet. This gets us closer. Seeing a black man rise to the absolute peak of his extremely competitive profession is a good thing worth celebrating.

I'd really like to know which he is. African? Or American? Has he ever been to Africa even? Anyone know?

(grabs popcorn)

If you do not know, then you need to go back to history class.

Peace

Great question. A friend of mine hates to be referred to in this fashion. He says, "I've never be to (or from) Africa, but I've been Black and an American all my life".
Same way with "Native American". I was born and raised in the USA so I guess I could say that I'm a native American.
Imagine how it would look if I listed all the countries that my ancestors had come from. Oh how ridiculous!
I guess some folks just need to feel special and therefore they have to add something. What is wrong with all citizens of the United States of America just being Americans?! I am and proud of it!

Must be a relatively new term. I guess I'm too old because when I was in school, the term was not existent.

You do not have to learn the term from school, but if you know the history, then you would not be asking such a question. ;)

Peace

I read what you posted and this came to mind:
--------------
"One of the really wrong theories about officiating is that a good official is one you never notice. The umpire who made that statement was probably a real poor official who tried to get his paycheck and hide behind his partners and stay out of trouble all his life. Control of the ballgame is the difference between umpires that show up for the players and the managers." -

Umpire Bruce Froemming
---------------

It's a great achievement for them, earning the chance to work the SuperBowl. More people have played in the SuperBowl than have officiated it.

Those that want to show up, work the game, and slither out without being noticed at all -- I have no interest in working with them.

Correct me if I am wrong, but when Carey points to the team on which there is a foul, it looks like a big karate chop.

How would he have learned in history class whether or not Mike Carey had ever visited Africa? I don't follow.

Mike Carey, Hochuli, and Steratore (and crew) all do a superb job and are the best in the NFL, IMO

:rolleyes: Our school system is really bad.

Peace

I thought y'all were joking earlier in this thread about how great his signals look...come on...he has the least professional signals I've seen in the NFL. He may have good judgement and speak clearly, but I've seen HS officals look crisper with their on field signals than Carey.

We didn't invent the hyphen, but we are its number one importer, I think.

Plus, you're not truly just an American unless you can speak Apache.

Oh, for God's sake. 10K years from now will this still be the line of thinking? At what point, after how many generations, do we just all become Americans?

This hyphenization is what drives a lot of the attention on stupid things like how significant it is for Mike Carey to be chosen as the white hat. It's insulting to him to give him special notice for that when rather they should be noticing him for his talent as an NFL referee.

congrats to mike carey
 

I did not know the Super Bowl had never had a black referee before, way to go Mike and congratulations - it is about time.

Good luck.

KB
www.A11Offense.com

Why is it the Referees wear white hats and he is control of the crew, all of whom wear black hats. Are they trying to say that the referee is the good guy and the rest of the crew are bad guys? These are the questions that demand answers!

It used to be the other way around (at least in the NFL). There must be a conspiracy. I was watching Super Bowl XX on the NFL Network last night and the Referee has a black cap on and all his partners had on a white one. It must be racial because one of the wing officials was an African-American. Now Mike Carey has to wear a white hat. Something is up. ;)

Peace

I would doubt that he would take that position. That is just a guess on my part. It mattered in last year's Super Bowl who the coaches were and their origin.

Peace

Oh that's right, well now I'm just confused. I think in an effort to resolve this matter, all officials should wear rainbow colored caps.

It mattered...to whom?

To you, it mattered. To me, it was two outstanding coaches who deserved to be recognized more for their coaching abilities. I didn't care if their skin was green. The NFL is better having Dungy and Smith among its coaches.

I'll give you the last word if you want to take it.

Green officials are no damn good. I draw the line at green people.

Who are you to talk?
The facts in your sign off are wrong about the SEC records of Carr's Michigan teams. Pretty simple to get that right.

You are missing the point. It is not an issue if it really matters to you or not. I honestly do not care if it matters to any white person at all. You are not of the same race that Mike or I are. One of the struggles of being African-American is you would like to tell your kids that they can do anything. How can you tell them that honestly when the sport you dominate at most positions, you cannot coach or officiate that sport. I have a friend that works college basketball that is also African-American. He was working a nationally televised game in a conference (I will not mention the conference) on a Saturday and all 3 of the officials were Black. I mentioned to him shortly after the game, “Is that that first time this happen in_______?” And I told him how shocked I was to see three Black officials working such a big time game on national TV. He replied back to me, “We were shocked too.” And there might have been only one white player on both teams and under the right circumstances; there would not have been a white coach if a certain coach did not leave the visiting program.

It sends the wrong message to our kids that they can play the sport at a high level, reach the pinnacle of that sport, but they cannot do every other job in that same sport. And yes, Dungy and Smith are going to help motivate other NFL players and other kids that when they achieve a certain level in that sport, they can also coach and the NY General Manager can also help run a team despite their race. I know as a kid of the 80s I did not think it was realistic to try to coach because I did not see any working any level. And when I would see one, they would be an assistant coach for a few years and soon find something else to do because their opportunities were limited.

If the race of a person holding a position does not matter, when the NY Giants General Manager was hired, the man would not have received multiple phone calls and letters from other prominent African-Americans that he did not know (He talked about this in a round table discussion with Dungy, Smith and Mike Tomlin on NFL Films Presents earlier this year). And as an official that have worked games where African-Americans were not present before, people have made comments to me (of different races) when they notice the reality of the situation. You have the privilege to not worry about that kind of thing, I do not. And since this is America's biggest game, I think it should be noted to all watching that finally a barrier has been broken even if this has nothing to do with the actual job he will do.

Peace