Scott Green ( American football official ) Scott H . Green is an American football official in the National Football League since the 1991 NFL season . He has officiated Super Bowls XXXVI in 2002 , XXXVIII in 2004 , and was the referee for XLIV in 2010 . Outside of his part - time work in professional football , Green works as a Washington , D . C . lobbyist for criminal justice agencies as part of a firm he co - founded in 1994 . Background . Green is a 1969 graduate of Central Bucks High School in Doylestown , Pennsylvania , where he was a linebacker and kicker . He is a 1973 graduate of the University of Delaware , where he received a bachelor ' s degree in criminal justice . Prior to his NFL career , from 1985 to 1990 Green was a Judiciary Committee staff person under then - Senator Joe Biden . In 1994 , Green , a resident of Alexandria , Virginia , co - founded the Lafayette Group , a Washington , D . C . , lobbying firm that focuses on public safety ; as of 2008 the firm employs 50 people . Officiating career . Green started in the NFL as a field judge with the start of the 1991 NFL season before switching to back judge after the league swapped position titles at the start of the 1998 NFL season . Green wears uniform number 19 . Giants - 49ers playoff game . Considered by some to be the top back judge in the league , Green was involved in a controversial finish to a New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers played January 5 , 2003 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco . Green and the officials apparently forgot that New York ' s Rich Seubert , a guard who had lined up legally in a receiver ' s spot , was an eligible receiver . Seubert appeared to be interfered by a San Francisco defender on a botched field goal attempt while going downfield to receive a pass . Since Green was the downfield official , this was his play to cover , but had to scramble from the goalpost to get into position to cover the play . Green , not knowing that Seubert was eligible , did not throw a flag to signify the penalty . Instead , the Giants were called for having an illegal man downfield on the play . Commissioner Paul Tagliabue described the situation as the most disappointing officiating blunder he ' d seen in his years as NFL commissioner and announced that officiating mechanics surrounding field - goal attempts and last plays of games would be changed . Promotion to referee . He became a referee on a part - time basis during the 2004 NFL season when referee Johnny Grier was injured . Green became a full time referee at the start of the 2005 NFL season after Grier forced to retire due to a leg injury . Green ' s first experience as an NFL referee came on October 3 , 2004 during a game between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills . Green ' s 2011 NFL officiating crew consists of umpire Bruce Stritesky , head linesman Tom Stabile , line judge Tom Barnes , field judge Dyrol Prioleau , side judge Larry Rose and back judge Scott Helverson . Steelers - Chargers game . Green was involved in another controversial finish during a game he was officiating between the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers on November 16 , 2008 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh . With Pittsburgh leading San Diego 11 - 10 and only five seconds left in the game with the Chargers on their own twenty yard line , San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers completed a short dump pass to running back LaDainian Tomlinson , who shoveled it back to wide receiver Chris Chambers in a desperation attempt to keep the play alive with a series of pitches . Chambers promptly attempted a seemingly legal lateral that was batted down and recovered by the Steelers ' Troy Polamalu , who took it into the end zone for a touchdown that would have ended the game with the Steelers ahead by eight points . Upon review by Green and his crew , however , one of the laterals involved in the play ( Green was ambiguous as to which one ) was deemed an illegal forward pass and ruled dead , officially ending the game in an 11 - 10 Steelers victory . While this had no bearing on the official outcome of the game , the dubious call led many fans and commentators to question the call as the game ' s betting line had the Steelers favored by 5 points , meaning the botched call caused all bets placed on the Steelers to be losing ones . Green himself conceded that he and his crew made the wrong call following the game . The incident has prompted the NFL to discuss " potential administrative improvements for replay that would help to prevent this type of mistake in the future . " Green ' s officiating in the game was also controversial for the imbalance in penalties called by Green and his crew ( 13 penalties for 115 yards on the Steelers ; 1 penalty for 5 yards against the Chargers ) . Packers - Cardinals game . Green was involved in a third controversial finish , this time during overtime of a playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals on January 10 , 2010 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale , Arizona . On the winning play , Cardinals cornerback Michael Adams forced a fumble from Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers , which then bounced off Rodgers ' foot ( never touching the ground ) before it was picked up by Arizona ' s Karlos Dansby for a touchdown . Adams seemed to have a hold of Rodgers ' facemask during the play , but Green did not call any penalty . " Sports Illustrated " writer Peter King offered a possible explanation for why Green may have not seen the facemask : Another question about the facemask was whether it was indeed flagrant or incidental . The 5 - yard facemask penalty was eliminated prior to the 2008 season , making an " incidental " facemask a legal play . Thus , it left officials only with a strictly judgment call as to whether it was worthy of a 15 - yard personal foul penalty or not . When asked about the play , Bill Carollo , former NFL referee and current Director of Officiating for the Big Ten Conference , stated that he felt that the 15 - yard face mask foul could have been called , or at least an unnecessary roughness penalty . However , Mike Pereira , the NFL ' s Supervisor of Officials , said that it was indeed an incidental facemask ( and thus no foul ) since there was never a significant pull or twist to warrant the 15 - yard penalty . Packers - Vikings game . On October 24 , 2010 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay , Wisconsin , Scott Green was again involved in controversial calls that helped the Packers win the game . " That ' s the worst officiated game I ' ve seen , " said Childress , whose team fell to 2 - 4 after losing four games in the entire 2009 regular season . " That referee came over and apologized to me for not calling a hold on the scramble by [ Packers quarterback Aaron ] Rodgers . And I ' ll tell you what , that ' s his job . Protect the quarterback and look at the left tackle . Look at the left tackle hold his tail off . " What set Childress off was Green ' s reversal of a 17 - yard touchdown in the second quarter on what appeared to be a nice diving catch by tight end Visanthe Shiancoe . The drive stalled and the Vikings ended up getting a 28 - yard field goal from Ryan Longwell , meaning four extremely valuable points were taken off the board . References .