Lou Palazzi Louis Joseph Palazzi ( June 25 , 1921 – January 7 , 2007 ) was an American football player who later officiated from 1952 through 1981 as an umpire in the National Football League ( NFL ) . Palazzi was the umpire in three Super Bowl s , IV , VII and XI ; worked nine NFL championship games , including 1958 championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants ; and was assigned to work in the postseason in his final 25 seasons in the league . Early life . Born in Groton , Connecticut in 1921 , son of the late Augusto and Rose Uguccioni Palazzi , he and his family immediately settled in Pennsylvania , where he was a resident for most of his life . A 1939 graduate of Dunmore High School , he was an all - scholastic center on the football team , was co - captain , and participated in the 1939 Scranton Dream Game . College career . Palazzi attended Penn State University for the next four years and was a walk - on for the football team . In his junior year , he became the starting center / linebacker . In his senior year , 1942 , he was elected team captain and made the Associated Press All - East team . Military service . After graduating from Penn State with a degree in industrial arts , Palazzi joined the United States Army Air Corps and fought in World War II . During this time , he played football for the Fourth and Fifth Air Force Bombers , teams used to raise money for the war effort . After the war , he received a master ’ s degree from Penn State in industrial engineering and was drafted in the fifth round by the New York Giants . Professional career . Player . Palazzi was the starting center for the Giants from 1946 to 1948 and ended his playing career with the Boston Yanks in 1949 . After that , Chicago Bears owner George Halas , who tried to get Palazzi to play for him , got him back into the league as an official in 1951 . Official . In 1952 , Palazzi began his career as an NFL umpire , where he remained for the next 30 seasons . Palazzi worked a playoff game for the last 25 years of his tenure , including nine NFL championships , one of which was the 1958 " Greatest Game Ever Played , " the Giants / Colts sudden - death championship . He later officiated Super Bowl IV , VII and XI , and was called by the media " the fastest man on the ball . " He also was rated as the best foul - weather official in the league . Palazzi , who wore uniform number 51 ( later worn by Dale Orem and now by referee Carl Cheffers ) for most of his career ( except for the 1979 - 1981 seasons , when officials were numbered separately by position , when he wore number 3 ) , worked the final 11 seasons of his career ( 1971 – 81 ) as the umpire on the crew of referee Bob Frederic . Outside of football . From 1950 to 1958 , Palazzi was an industrial arts teacher and assistant football coach at West Scranton High School . He concurrently aided his father in the ancient family gardening business . In 1959 , he became a registered landscape architect in Pennsylvania and assumed control of Palazzi Garden Centers and Landscaping , which he operated until his retirement in 1992 . Palazzi died at the Dunmore , Pennsylvania Health Care Center on January 7 , 2007 at the age of 85 .