Bill Carollo is a former NFL official who lives in Milwaukee. He worked the Green Bay Packers game with the Denver Broncos in December of 2003.
Then Broncos coach Mike Shanahan seemed to have some issue with Carollo calling the game. He cited an NFL rule that an official can’t work a game in their hometown. However, Carollo was able to work this particular game because he lived in Milwaukee and not Green Bay.
In the fourth quarter of the game, running back Ahman Green broke off a 98-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Brett Favre tried to get Carollo to celebrate the play with him while it was happening.
“Brett keeps hitting me, ‘Carollo, give me five, give me five!’” Carollo says. “He’s trying to high-five me. I tell him, ‘I can’t give you five, Brett.’ He’s hitting me on the butt, on the shoulder, on the back. He’s yelling, ‘He’s going all the way! Give me five!’ I’m ducking away from him and yelling, ‘I can’t give you five.’ ”
“We run right past Shanahan,” Carollo says, “and he holds out his hands and yells, ‘Carollo, I told you you shouldn’t be working this game!’ “
Who was officiating the game probably wouldn’t have mattered much. The Packers beat the Broncos 31-3.
