The NFL has decided to give Ed Hochuli some “marked down” grades for his bad call in the Broncos-Chargers game, which may mean he can’t work in the playoffs this year. GIven all of your harsh comments, I’m guessing most of you think it’s too light.
The official statement, from NFL spokesman Greg Aiello:
”Officials are held accountable for their calls. They are graded on every play of every game. Ed has been an outstanding official for many years, but he will be marked down for this call. Under our evaluation system, an official’s grades impact his status for potentially working the playoffs and ultimately whether or not he is retained.”
At the same time, the referees association has made it clear that they are standing behind Ed. They admit that he obviously screwed up, but they point to his 19 years of experience (with very little criscism). Tim Miller, the executive director of the NFLRA, had this to say:
“No one feels worse about this than Ed, but like the coaches and players in our high-speed game, mistakes will occur.”
“The NFLRA stands by Ed Hochuli as a 19-year veteran with multiple Super Bowl and countless playoff game experience who has the integrity and character to admit a mistake and accept the criticism that comes with it.”
So what do you think? Should Hochuli have been punished more, for what was really just one quick mistake? Or does the fault lie with the NFL, whose rules didn’t allow Hochuli the ability to fix it (by awarding the ball to San Diego)?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I am a Charger fan, and was disappointed with the outcome of the
Chargers/Broncos game that Ed Hochuli is receiving such a great amount of grief about. In watching the game, during the replay it is evident that Ed is behind the quarterback and was screened from seeing that Cutler had an open hand. When he blew the whistle, it was evident that he believed that it was an incomplete pass and that he did not want a quarterback to have to dive into a pile and possibly be injured (like Drew Brees several years ago).
Regardless of whether the whistle was premature or not, Ed made the proper procedural call based on the current set of rules. He also made the proper procedural call when the replay equipment was not working at the beginning of the game. Between Ed and Mike Carey, my wife and I prefer to watch these two referees over any others, because they consstently make clear and concise explanations of their calls that are very easy to understand. Even though the
events seemed to conspire against the Chargers, I do not fault Ed Hochuli and hope that criticism of Ed and his enforcing of the rules abates soon. I could not find an email address for Ed, possibly that has been removed because of hate email sent to him. Please forward this to him if at all possible, or at least let him know that while my wife and I are Charger fans, as strange as it
may be to be a fan of a referee I am definitely still a fan of Ed Hochuli. In addition to being an exceptional referee, he seems to be a good man and does not deserve the criticism leveled against him.
Ed is a tool. Show me a ref that hasn’t missed a call. He called it like he saw it. He manned up and said he made a mistake, which is more than you can say for most people. Ed, you are top notch.
After watching the Ed H. call and subsequent explanation live on Sunday it took me about 30 seconds to figure out that if Ed had called the play the other way it still would have been reviewed but ultimately could be called the right way whether it was an incomplete pass or a fumble. I hope the NFL referees group is smart enough to issue an internal memo to all refs stating to all refs if you are put in a situation like Ed was, make the call that can be reviewed and then called properly. Isnt that why the review process was put in place?
I think Ed Hochuli is one stand up guy. When I heard that he was e-mailing everyone back who wrote to him mad about the inadvertant whistle call and was apologizing to fans – I was blown away! That is a class move by a class person – not the apology – he was just following the rules – but just the fact that he acknowledged the fans and let them know that he had heard them is unheard of these days. Then he went even further stating how bad he felt about the call and he was apologetic and sincere. I never really had an opinion on Mr. Hochuli before – except that he has big arms – but now I think he is the referee that I would want calling my teams games and now I think that he is one classy guy, a great ref. and – I’m sure – one good person. Don’t let it get you down Mr Hochuli stuff happens and you have always been a great ref. Keep up the good work!!!
What a joke Mr Hochuli is working all the playoff games.