When the NFL released the list of officials for the 2014 season, Mike Carey was listed as a referee for the 20th consecutive season.
Carey will indeed be seen during games this fall, but he won’t be in his familiar on-field role. CBS Sports called Carey a former NFL official in a Tuesday announcement that he would be joining the network’s Thursday night and Sunday broadcasts as a rules expert.
“So many times throughout the years of watching Mike officiate, I often thought it would be great to have him someday work for CBS explaining the calls on the field,” CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said in a statement from the network. “We’re excited that this has now come to fruition. He will be a great complement to our Thursday Night Football and Sunday afternoon coverage.”
Carey spent 24 years as an NFL official and became the second African-American ref in league history in 1995. He subsequently became the first African-American to referee a Super Bowl when he officiated Super Bowl XLII between the Patriots and Giants.