Bill Carollo William F . " Bill " Carollo ( born November 27 , 1951 ) is a retired American football official who officiated National Football League ( NFL ) games from the 1989 through 2008 . He wore uniform number 63 . Carollo officiated in two Super Bowl s and seven conference championship games . After the 2008 season , he become the Director of Officiating for the Big Ten Conference . Personal . Early life . A native of Brookfield , Wisconsin , Carollo attended high school at Brookfield Central High School where he graduated in 1970 . Following high school , he attended University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee ( UWM ) and graduated in 1974 with a degree in industrial relations . At UWM , he was the starting quarterback for the school ' s football team from 1970 to 1973 . Family . Carollo currently resides in Shorewood , Wisconsin and is married and has four children . Other professions . Carollo worked as an international account executive for 30 years at IBM before becoming Vice President of Global Sales for Milwaukee , Wisconsin based Manpower Inc . Officiating career . Early years . Carollo began his officiating career working Wisconsin high school football , basketball , and baseball games . He joined college football ' s Big Ten Conference , where he stayed for ten years and included a selection to work the 1988 Rose Bowl Game . In addition to officiating football games in the Big Ten , he was a basketball referee from 1982 to 1988 . For a period of time , he also served as the Milwaukee Brewers Official Scorer for the American League . National Football League . Carollo started in the NFL as a side judge and officiated Super Bowl XXX in 1996 at that position , then became a referee ( crew chief ) for the start of the 1997 NFL season after Red Cashion and Howard Roe announced their retirements . Carollo was assigned to work his first post - season as referee during the 1998 - 99 NFL playoffs and later made his second appearance in the Super Bowl at Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 . Before he officiated Super Bowl XXXVII , Mike Pereira , the NFL ' s director of officiating , said of Carollo , " Bill is just perfect in the management of a game . He understands how to handle coaches , players and a team of seven officials . He ' s terrific at that . " While serving as referee of the 1999 NFC Championship game between Tampa Bay and St . Louis , Carollo overturned a catch by Tampa Bay ' s Bert Emanuel , that later led to the adoption of the Bert Emanuel Rule . by the NFL . The play consisted of Bert Emanuel making what was ruled a catch at St . Louis ' 22 yard line with 47 seconds left in the game and the Buccaneers down by 5 . After review , Carollo ruled that the tip of the ball had touched the ground , and even though Emanuel maintained control of the football , Carollo had to rule it an incomplete pass . This led to the NFL clarifying the definitions of both a catch and an incomplete pass , as to avoid this scenario replaying itself in the future . This is known as the Bert Emanuel Rule . He served as the director of the NFL Referees Association , the union representing NFL officials , from 2000 to March 1 , 2006 . He was the center of the negotiations that took place during the 2001 NFL season where there was a work stoppage by game officials . The NFL and its game officials eventually agreed on September 19 , 2001 to a new six - year Collective Bargaining Agreement that ended a two - week lockout of the regular officials , who returned to work on September 23 , 2001 . His 2007 NFL officiating crew consisted of Bill Schuster , John Schleyer , Gary Arthur , Bill Lovett , James Coleman , and Phil Luckett . On November 18 , 2007 , Carollo became the first referee in 35 years to officiate a game for the same team in back - to - back weeks during the New England - Buffalo game . Bill Leavy was scheduled to officiate the November 11th Buffalo - Miami game , but fell ill . Carollo served as the referee for that contest using Leavy ' s crew . In August 2008 , Carollo announced he would retire as an NFL referee at the end of the 2008 NFL season to become the Director of Officiating for the Big Ten Conference . His final assignment was for the AFC Championship game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens on January 18 , 2009 . Don Carey , brother of NFL referee Mike Carey , was promoted from back judge to take Carollo ' s place as a crew chief . In Carollo ' s twenty - year NFL career he officiated in two Super Bowls , a third SB as alternate referee , eight NFL Conference Championships and one Pro Bowl . Currently Bill is Director of Officiating for the Big Ten , Mid - American and Missouri Valley football conferences . This new officiating alliance , Midwest Football Officials Alliance was created in 2009 and headquartered in Park Ridge , IL .