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.
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.
He later officiated Super Bowl IV, VII and XI, and was called by the media "the fastest man on the ball."