Prior to his officiating career, he played college football as a running back for Santa Clara University.

Carey was a respected official in the NFL for his thorough pre-game preparation, professional demeanor, and fair play.

[2] He had also ejected the most players in the league among current referees, as of 2002,[3] including incidents involving Sean Taylor and Terrell Suggs.

Carey was promoted in 1995 when the league added the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars and thus needed an extra officiating crew to handle up to 15 games per weekend instead of 14, which had been the case between 1976 and 1994.

[7] Mike and Wendy Carey founded Seirus Innovation, a privately held company that manufactures ski and snowboarding gloves, face protection, and other cold-weather accessories,[1][3] in 1979.

[8] As chair, his goal is to "get the suppliers, retailers, reps, media and resorts to come together as one community and work together, then we can create synergy to help strengthen the snow sports industry as a whole.

At the conclusion of a play during this game, Redskins safety Sean Taylor spat in the face of Buccaneers running back Michael Pittman.

Mike Pereira, the vice president of officiating, approved of Carey's handling of the incident saying that "offsetting personal fouls would not have been appropriate".

"[12] In an interview in August 2014,[13] it was revealed that Carey had requested that the NFL not assign him to games featuring the Washington Redskins.

On working the NFL's championship game, Carey said it was a "personal honor" and understood the historical significance of being the first African American referee.

On third down, with just over a minute left in regulation, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning received the snap in a shotgun formation and looked to pass the ball.

New England Patriots defenders Richard Seymour, Jarvis Green, and Adalius Thomas grabbed and attempted to tackle Manning.

I didn't assume that was going to happen, but rarely do you see a quarterback escape when he's got that much weight on his back and being dragged by two or three guys who had a hold of him.

"[15] On June 24, 2014, Carey resigned from the NFL and joined CBS Sports as a rules analyst for its Thursday night and Sunday broadcasts.