Becoming an NFL referee was never a primary objective for Little Rock's Walt Coleman.
It wasn't until an early 1980s rule change in the Southwest Conference -- prompted by former University of Arkansas coach Lou Holtz -- that Coleman even thought about taking his striped shirt and whistle to professional football.
"Unfortunately," Coleman told members of the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday at the Double Tree Hotel, "they changed the rules that Arkansas officials had to officiate Arkansas games. ... I worked two homecoming games. And I'm a graduate of the University of Arkansas."
Coleman and his father, Walt, continued to officiate Arkansas games during the mid-1980s with Ken Hatfield as coach, but Coleman said he didn't like the optics.
"Because of the class of that man, we didn't have to worry about the fact that we were working Arkansas games," Coleman said of Hatfield. "But perception is very bad. I knew right off I needed to officiate somewhere else."
Rules in that era mandated that an official had to reside in a state that had a school in a particular conference to officiate in that conference.
"I couldn't officiate in the Big 12 because I didn't live in one of those states," Coleman said. "I couldn't work in the SEC ... I didn't have anywhere to go."
Coleman's father, who got his son involved in officiating decades earlier, had an idea.
"So, Dad, being a typical salesman, he said. 'Just apply to the NFL.' "
" I said, 'Dad, nobody from Arkansas has ever been in the NFL.' "
"He said, 'All they can do is tell you no.' "
Coleman applied.
"And I got it," he said. "Somehow. The rest is history."
That history includes 30 years in the NFL, the final 25 as a referee, the man with the white hat who is responsible for holding calls and plays involving the quarterback.
Coleman is one of seven men to officiate NFL games for 30 years or more.
"I had no plans to stay in the league for 30 years," Coleman said. "I was trying get to one year when I got in, then two, then five. It worked out. It wasn't in the works, but it was fun while it lasted. I saw some unbelievable football players in those 30 years."
Coleman worked 17 playoff games, 9 division title games and 2 conference championship games, but he will always be remembered for what happened on Jan. 19, 2002, during a snowstorm at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
It was that game -- between the Oaklawn Raiders and the New England Patriots -- when Coleman changed his own ruling of a Tom Brady fumble to an incomplete pass after looking at the instant replay.
The Patriots retained possession trailing 13-10 late in the fourth quarter, kicked a game-tying field goal to tie and a game-winning field goal in overtime.
Coleman became an inadvertent hero in New England and an enemy for life of the Raiders and their coach Jon Gruden.
"Everybody has some play they are kind of remembered for," said Coleman, 69. "So, mine just happens to be that play. And mind you, it's all about what happened afterward. If New England hadn't tied the game, that play probably would have gone away.
"If New England hadn't beaten Pittsburgh the next week, the play probably would have gone away.
"The fact that they went all the way to win the Super Bowl because of that play. ..."
Coleman, who retired from the NFL in 2018, said the game is more difficult to officiate today because of the speed of the athletes and the quality of the video.
"You can't hide," Coleman said. "They've got so many cameras and high definition is so clear.
"With technology, it's given them the ability to fix stuff. When you make a mistake, it's given them ability to change something without going to the replay booth. Just have the replay booth call down and say that pass incomplete, and you never have to get to replay.
"From technology standpoint, the scrutiny and all that stuff, we watched film in black and white. You could call holding and you couldn't see it. Now, heck it's six angles. All that stuff. If it's not there, it's not going to show up. If it is a foul, it's going to show up."
Coleman said being the referee for 2003 AFC Championship Game between New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, and the 1998 NFC Championship Game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons are the highlights of his career.
He said there is a sense of relief in the immediate aftermath of working games of that magnitude.
"You're relieved that it's over," Coleman said. "If you feel like you've done a good job, you're happy about it. But you've still got the video to look at to see how you really did."