When he was approached following his college graduation by the venerable Ed Mariano to become a member of the Western Connecticut Football Officials Association, little did Shawn O’Brien realize it was be a 33-year odyssey that continues to this very day. A graduate of Naugatuck High School, where he played football, and the University of New Haven, where his freshman team won the New England Football Conference Championship, O’Brien graduated in 1983. It was then that Mariano invited O’Brien to try officiating, and he hasn’t looked back. An integral member of the WCFOA, O’Brien is the group’s secretary-treasurer, a job few look for and fewer are allowed to leave once they get it. On the field, he worked to hone his skills as an official, crediting Hall of Fame members Russ Hanson and Mariano as well as Bob Sullivan for his moving up the ranks. He has worked eight quarter-final games as a white hat, and two finals in the position of umpire. O’Brien was inducted into the Naugatuck High School Hall of Fame in 2015, has won the Ed Mariano Award, given by the WCFOA to a member who exemplifies a great work ethic and service to the board, as well as a Vincent J. Reilly Award. Shawn and his wife Donna reside in Naugatuck. They have three children Michelle, Jeffrey and Kimberly.