Give Ed Hochuli a break (1 Viewer)

[Obie Wan]

I dunno. I also think it's inaccurate to refer to this as a "blown call." Blown calls happen all the time- I saw several last night- and generally can be attributed to bad judgment on something that's at least open to interpretation. For example, let's say Cutler had fumbled the ball away while being hit and the referee had ruled that he had started moving his arm forward and thus it was an incomplete pass, but later replay showed that the ball was knocked away before the QB started moving his arm forward. That would be excusable even if he was wrong. A mistake like that happens once every couple of weeks.What happened in Denver was different, and completely inexplicable. Nobody needed replay to figure out Hochuli botched the call. I would be surprised if a single TV viewer out of hundreds of thousands who thought that there was any defensible reason to whistle the play dead. I can't think of a single big, game-changing and possibly season-changing call that was so obviously wrong in real time. To pretend that's the same as blowing a pass interference call or some other judgment determination is totally wrong.For the record: I cheer for an NFC team, and the events in the 4th quarter of this game had no impact on my fantasy team.

Bills Home run throwupThe obvious call on the field in real time should have been forward pass. Then go to replay.Ref swallowed his whistle.

 

[schooner44]

I have to preface this by saying I'm a fan of neither team and there was no fantasy impact by these events.

There's a couple of big things that no one is talking about...

1. San Diego had 2 chances to stop Denver from taking the lead. Worse yet, Denver tran the same play and threw it to the same guy for both the TD and the 2 pt conversion. They didn't get the job done.

2. If it was an incomplete pass instead of a fumble, Ed hadn't blown the whistle, the play continued, Cutler got hurt then the play was reversed as an incomplete pass then Denver would be going nuts that a bad call cost them their QB.

Hochuli was a stand-up guy who immediately accepted fault for the bad call and didn't hide from Turner to avoid the tongue-lashing. Mistakes happen, deal with it, move on.

And if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon.That's a lot of presupposing you are doing there. It is better to get the call right, then act to prevent the correct call from happening.

So are you saying that your grandmother is a wooden box with a long metal handle coming out of her?Yes, its better to get the call right the first time but mistakes will happen and the rules are in place are setup to best handle such mistakes.

 

[Novice2]

One of his calls changed the outcome of a game. Thats the worst thing that can happen. He should resign if he is so ''sick'' of what he did.

 

[snorlax]

This wasn't a blown call at all. In a split second Hochuli thought he had seen something and blew his whistle, but then he immediately realized that he had screwed up. After that, he made the right call under the rules in letting Denver keep the ball. It was a simple slight error in perception in the fast movement of the game, and it's something that could have happened to anyone. People should not complain about the good referees like Ed Hochuli.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Was it a bad call to start with? i have no idea, as I don't know the rule book inside and out. I know what the announcers said, but I've never trusted the announcers to be right. I wonder if Cross saying that it was clearly a mistake makes everyone echo that sentiment.

You should never, ever, trust anything Randy Cross says.But you can trust me.It was a bad call to start with.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

This wasn't a blown call at all. In a split second Hochuli thought he had seen something and blew his whistle, but then he immediately realized that he had screwed up. After that, he made the right call under the rules in letting Denver keep the ball. It was a simple slight error in perception in the fast movement of the game, and it's something that could have happened to anyone. People should not complain about the good referees like Ed Hochuli.

A screw-up isn't a blown call?Hochuli would be the first to admit it was a blown call.

I'm all for giving him a break. Bygones. But let's be factually accurate: It was a blown call.

 

[FantasyTrader]

This wasn't a blown call at all. In a split second Hochuli thought he had seen something and blew his whistle, but then he immediately realized that he had screwed up. After that, he made the right call under the rules in letting Denver keep the ball. It was a simple slight error in perception in the fast movement of the game, and it's something that could have happened to anyone. People should not complain about the good referees like Ed Hochuli.

You say it wasn't a blown call, but then go on to describe almost word for word what my definition of a blown call would be."...thought he had seen something and blew his whistle, but then he immediately realized that he had screwed up."

Yeah...that pretty much covers it. He f-in' blew it.

***aaaaand, cue the backpedaling below - 3...2...1...

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

He doesn't deserve a break. That was unbelievable (Broncos fan). Forgive him? Of course, but they shouldn't let that slide in the least. Most other jobs, he's fired (not saying I'm for that).

 

[Franknbeans]

I think SD and their fans who are complaining about this call are whiners. Refs blow calls all the time in the NFL and this guy is one of, if not the best referee in the NFL. He screwed up and he admitted it. Let it go.

SD and the fans who are complaining should be more concerned about why that defense has given up so many points and in this instance, why they couldn't stop Denver not once, but twice after the blown call. They still has two chances to win the game and they failed, again.

 

[greenroom]

Why doesn't the NFL reverse the result, awarding a win to the Chargers and a loss to the Broncos?

Well first of all who is to say the Cutler does not recover the fumble? The whistle blew and he did not go after the SD player to prevent him from picking up the football? So for everyone to say that the Chargers would of recovered the football is wrong. We will never know what could of happened if the whistle had not been blown.Second there was still time left on the clock and Denver still had timeouts. So for everyone saying SD would of won that is not a fact. Denver could of made the stop (not very likely since they were not stopping anyone) but it could of happened.That is why you cannot reverse the ruling. Plus per the rules Hochuli did not make a mistake. He blew the whistle early which comes from the NFL to protect its QB's. Does the rule need to be changed sure. but how the NFL has the rules at this point it was the correct call to be made.

 

[greenroom]

He doesn't deserve a break. That was unbelievable (Broncos fan). Forgive him? Of course, but they shouldn't let that slide in the least. Most other jobs, he's fired (not saying I'm for that).

That is not true. If you are a great employee and you make a mistake you would not be fired for the first error. IF you had a history of making mistakes then yes, but if it is the first time you made the error most employers would keep its good employees.

 

[roadkill1292]

He doesn't deserve a break. That was unbelievable (Broncos fan). Forgive him? Of course, but they shouldn't let that slide in the least. Most other jobs, he's fired (not saying I'm for that).

That is not true. If you are a great employee and you make a mistake you would not be fired for the first error. IF you had a history of making mistakes then yes, but if it is the first time you made the error most employers would keep its good employees.

Body of work counts big here. A good man made a bad, and very human, mistake. If you're calling for Hochuli's dismissal, you have a very poor grasp of how the real world works.

 

[Tau837]

Why doesn't the NFL reverse the result, awarding a win to the Chargers and a loss to the Broncos?

Well first of all who is to say the Cutler does not recover the fumble? The whistle blew and he did not go after the SD player to prevent him from picking up the football? So for everyone to say that the Chargers would of recovered the football is wrong. We will never know what could of happened if the whistle had not been blown.

In general situations, it is true that when the whistle blows, some players might stop playing. But it seems as if you haven't seen the play, because Cutler and Dobbins both immediately went for the ball and Dobbins got it. From the replay, it does not appear that any of the players actually heard the whistle.

Second there was still time left on the clock and Denver still had timeouts. So for everyone saying SD would of won that is not a fact. Denver could of made the stop (not very likely since they were not stopping anyone) but it could of happened.

It is theoretically possible they could have won. But San Diego would have had the ball with 1:17 remaining. If Denver held them without a first down and used its 2 remaining timeouts after first and second down, the Chargers would have punted, and Denver would probably have taken possession on the other side of midfield with about 10 seconds and no timeouts remaining. The odds of them scoring a TD if the fumble was ruled correctly are about as low as it gets.

That is why you cannot reverse the ruling. Plus per the rules Hochuli did not make a mistake. He blew the whistle early which comes from the NFL to protect its QB's. Does the rule need to be changed sure. but how the NFL has the rules at this point it was the correct call to be made.

This is laughable. He made a mistake. He and the NFL both admitted he made a mistake.All that said, I don't think the NFL should have reversed the result of the game, which was the original post to which you responded. Human error on the part of the referees is unfortunately part of the game.

 

[Tubalcane]

Personally the fact that Ed Hochuli immediately admitted his mistake, and owned up to it makes him stand out as being more credible than most.

 

[T Bell]

Personally the fact that Ed Hochuli immediately admitted his mistake, and owned up to it makes him stand out as being more credible than most.

Agreed. He even went so far to announce his own mistake to the crowd only moments after he'd made it when he explained the blown whistle, and then he went over to Norv Turner and apologized. He's been nothing but standup about the whole thing, and he hasn't even hidden behind the big zebra line as he's responded to emails about it. I don't know what more you want from the guy, and frankly I don't see how this is even much of a story four days later outside of SD and Denver. Stuff happens, and people can make mistakes, particularly in the heat of the moment, and even moreso when the league has issued a mandate (wrongheaded in my view) that ultra-protects QB's Move on.

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

He doesn't deserve a break. That was unbelievable (Broncos fan). Forgive him? Of course, but they shouldn't let that slide in the least. Most other jobs, he's fired (not saying I'm for that).

That is not true. If you are a great employee and you make a mistake you would not be fired for the first error. IF you had a history of making mistakes then yes, but if it is the first time you made the error most employers would keep its good employees.

Fair enough. Good point.I was thinking like a major mistake, costing a lot, and therefore an almost necessary firing. But that's still wrong. And having just now read some of this thread, I found out more I didn't know, like his admissions and such. I was wrong.

 

[thatguy]

He doesn't deserve a break. That was unbelievable (Broncos fan). Forgive him? Of course, but they shouldn't let that slide in the least. Most other jobs, he's fired (not saying I'm for that).

That is not true. If you are a great employee and you make a mistake you would not be fired for the first error. IF you had a history of making mistakes then yes, but if it is the first time you made the error most employers would keep its good employees.

Fair enough. Good point.I was thinking like a major mistake, costing a lot, and therefore an almost necessary firing. But that's still wrong. And having just now read some of this thread, I found out more I didn't know, like his admissions and such. I was wrong.

Refreshing to see something like this.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Well first of all who is to say the Cutler does not recover the fumble? The whistle blew and he did not go after the SD player to prevent him from picking up the football? So for everyone to say that the Chargers would of recovered the football is wrong. We will never know what could of happened if the whistle had not been blown.

This is incorrect. Cutler and Dobbins were the only two players with a shot at the ball, and they both continued playing without regard to any whistle.

Plus per the rules Hochuli did not make a mistake. He blew the whistle early which comes from the NFL to protect its QB's. Does the rule need to be changed sure. but how the NFL has the rules at this point it was the correct call to be made.

This is also incorrect. Hochuli made a very bad mistake, which is why he feels so terrible about it.

 

[awesomeness]

The fact that Hochuli is being downgraded is an absolute joke. Your top referee makes a mistake (albeit), admits he made a mistake, and gets downgraded; but you got #### referees making mistakes every game who will get to move up because of this? The NFL, fans, players, and all involved with the NFL are worse off because of this.

 

[FantasyTrader]

The fact that Hochuli is being downgraded is an absolute joke. Your top referee makes a mistake (albeit), admits he made a mistake, and gets downgraded; but you got #### referees making mistakes every game who will get to move up because of this? The NFL, fans, players, and all involved with the NFL are worse off because of this.

It depends how far he's being downgraded. This was a horrible call...he should be downgraded. But I don't think Hoculi should be dinged so badly that there's no way he can ref the SB now and I'm afraid that's what will happen. I agree with you - Hoculi is a great ref. Disagree that he shouldn't be downgraded - but he should also have the chance to assume his rightful place (reffing the SB) if he and his crew do the exemplary job they've done in the past.

 

[Sheriff66]

Personally the fact that Ed Hochuli immediately admitted his mistake, and owned up to it makes him stand out as being more credible than most.

Bitter pill to swallow if you are a Charger fan though...

 

[DropKick]

I would be surprised if a single TV viewer out of hundreds of thousands who thought that there was any defensible reason to whistle the play dead. I can't think of a single big, game-changing and possibly season-changing call that was so obviously wrong in real time.

Do you really have to take everything to ridiculous extremes? Not a single person out of "hundreds of thousands" saw the play differently? There has NEVER been such an important blown call? That's some obnoxious stuff... you must be a real joy at parties.

 

[T Bell]

The fact that Hochuli is being downgraded is an absolute joke. Your top referee makes a mistake (albeit), admits he made a mistake, and gets downgraded; but you got #### referees making mistakes every game who will get to move up because of this? The NFL, fans, players, and all involved with the NFL are worse off because of this.

Wat? Every referee is graded on every play, every week. Thare are numerous downgrades every week that you don't hear about.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=35...&type=story

NEW YORK -- The fallout continues over NFL referee Ed Hochuli's game-deciding mistake in Denver last Sunday.

Mike Pereira, the NFL's supervisor of officials, said on his NFL Network show Wednesday night that he's talked several times to Hochuli and the referee remains devastated. And the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Hochuli, an official for 19 seasons and a referee for 17, had e-mailed fans in San Diego and told them, "I failed miserably."

The call came in the final minute with Denver having a second-and-1 at the San Diego 1-yard-line and the Chargers leading 38-31. Denver quarterback Jay Cutler dropped back to pass, the ball slipped from his hand and a San Diego player recovered. But Hochuli, who has refereed two Super Bowls and is the league's most visible official, ruled it an incomplete pass.

Instant replay showed the call should have been a fumble, but Denver retained the ball at the 10 because under the rules, the ball could not go to San Diego because the whistle had blown when the play was ruled a pass.

Hochuli told Chargers coach Norv Turner he made the wrong call. Then the Broncos went on to score, converted a 2-point conversion, and won 39-38.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday he expected the league's competition committee would review the rule that possession could not change because the whistle blew during the offseason, as it has in the past.

"We all understand the frustration of the fans, in this case, the Chargers fans," Goodell told The Associated Press before accepting an award on behalf of the NFL from the International Radio and Television Society Foundation.

"Mistakes are a part of our game. We do everything we can to avoid them, but Ed's a fantastic official, and he'll continue to be a great official."

Pereira said on his weekly NFL Network show that he's tried to be as supportive as he can to Hochuli, "but he's devastated -- as he should be."

"He is a consummate professional who's refereed in this league for 17 years and he hates to make any mistake. So when you add a mistake of this magnitude, at this particular junction of the game, it's been really hard on him. We've talked probably seven or eight times since that game, and my whole goal is to try to get him back to get on the horse and work again this weekend. He's too good of a guy, too good of an official to keep off the field over this critical mistake he made. I think he'll be all right, but he's really been affected over this mistake he made."

According to the Union-Tribune, Hochuli wrote to several San Diego fans: "Officials strive for perfection -- I failed miserably."

Hochuli did not return repeated calls and e-mails from The Associated Press.

On the Web site www.NFL85.com, his son Scott reported in a section named "Everything Ed" that his father had received many letters of support from fans. The site says Hochuli will ref the Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens game at 4:15 p.m. ET Sunday.

"I am very humbled by the number of people who have come to my defense. Very humbled, indeed," the site reported Ed Hochuli as saying.

Pereira said the rules need to be further examined.

"I think we have to take a step backwards first and look at what we did in 2007 when we brought down by contact into a reviewable situation," he said. "We allowed players to play through the whistle at that point to a recovery of a fumble. We need to look and see if that has been successful, which I believe it has been.

"Now what we really need to do is see if we can take it beyond that, considering this play that happened on Sunday. Can we take it beyond that to the ruling of an incomplete pass and stretch it to the ball actually being recovered by the defender, as the Chargers did here, if in fact it was a fumble? ... But the question is can you extend it here to at least make the right ruling on the field? You would at least be doing partially the right thing, giving the ball to San Diego, although you can't advance the ball.

"Obviously, we're going to look at it because it was such a big play and we have had some success before with the down by contact rule. We'll take a long look at it, I'm sure."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[snorlax]

This wasn't a blown call at all. In a split second Hochuli thought he had seen something and blew his whistle, but then he immediately realized that he had screwed up. After that, he made the right call under the rules in letting Denver keep the ball. It was a simple slight error in perception in the fast movement of the game, and it's something that could have happened to anyone. People should not complain about the good referees like Ed Hochuli.

A screw-up isn't a blown call?Hochuli would be the first to admit it was a blown call.

I'm all for giving him a break. Bygones. But let's be factually accurate: It was a blown call.

If he had decided after the play was over to give San Diego the ball because, "you know, I screwed up, and they deserve to keep the ball, so I'm going to give it to them," then that would be a blown call. He correctly applied the rules as written to the situation at hand. He made no overt mental errors that are easily correctable upon thinking them over. It was just one simple slip of the whistle; it happens quite a bit, and the Chargers are not special.I don't think he's making a "call" when he's blowing the whistle. That word implies some premeditation and decision-making. He was just reacting within a split-second to what he thought he saw. The

in the Wisconsin-Fresno State game was a blown call; the refs had it right the whole time and had to deliberately make their decision incorrect. Ed Hochuli had a simple momentary lapse in perception, and he doesn't deserve to be

 

[jonessed]

Why doesn't the NFL reverse the result, awarding a win to the Chargers and a loss to the Broncos?

Well first of all who is to say the Cutler does not recover the fumble? The whistle blew and he did not go after the SD player to prevent him from picking up the football? So for everyone to say that the Chargers would of recovered the football is wrong. We will never know what could of happened if the whistle had not been blown.Second there was still time left on the clock and Denver still had timeouts. So for everyone saying SD would of won that is not a fact. Denver could of made the stop (not very likely since they were not stopping anyone) but it could of happened.

That is why you cannot reverse the ruling. Plus per the rules Hochuli did not make a mistake. He blew the whistle early which comes from the NFL to protect its QB's. Does the rule need to be changed sure. but how the NFL has the rules at this point it was the correct call to be made.

If you are going to comment on the play at least watch it first.

 

[jonessed]

I would be surprised if a single TV viewer out of hundreds of thousands who thought that there was any defensible reason to whistle the play dead. I can't think of a single big, game-changing and possibly season-changing call that was so obviously wrong in real time.

Do you really have to take everything to ridiculous extremes? Not a single person out of "hundreds of thousands" saw the play differently? There has NEVER been such an important blown call? That's some obnoxious stuff... you must be a real joy at parties.

It's not like it took instant replay to see. The ball came out at chest level and went a yard backwards without a person within five yards. The call was inexplicable, which is why I'm sure he feels so bad.

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

Again, haven't read the thread, or followed Ed's ordeal, but one thing that drives me absolutely nuts, is why refs blow the whistle, period. With instant replay now in full affect, there just isn't the need like before.

The whistle should be used to stop the beginning of plays, not the end of them.

 

[Short Corner]

Again, haven't read the thread, or followed Ed's ordeal, but one thing that drives me absolutely nuts, is why refs blow the whistle, period. With instant replay now in full affect, there just isn't the need like before.The whistle should be used to stop the beginning of plays, not the end of them.

The reverse is what drives me nuts. See the play. Make the call. This is how officiating is done in every other sport and the majority of football. Refs at the NFL level are now chicken #### to blow the whistle on any sort of possession play because they are afraid of getting the call wrong and want to let it be decided by replay.How many times have you seen this scenario? Close game, Team A is down by 1 driving w/ 2+ minutes left. Team A has exhausted all of its TOs hoping to get the ball back, or maybe they have just burned them. Similar play as the one we are discussing but it was indeed a forward pass. Referee swallows his whistle allowing play to continue. Team B recovers. Team A is SOL because they can not challenge.I have seen this scenario probably dozens of times more often than ones similar to the Cutler fumble. Sure this was a bad call, but I'll take a game decided by a ref who blows a pure judgement call over one decided because a ref was using IR as a crutch.[/rant]

 

[DanFouts]

Big Chargers fan here who was extremely angry about the call.

Read the Wash Post about him this am. He's answering all his hate email personally, apologizing, etc.

I forgive the dude...he's pretty upset with himself.

I hope it doesn't cost the Chargers a playoff spot....but the Chargers have a lot bigger worries (no pass rush, LT) to worry about now....

 

[Stinkin Ref]

Again, haven't read the thread, or followed Ed's ordeal, but one thing that drives me absolutely nuts, is why refs blow the whistle, period. With instant replay now in full affect, there just isn't the need like before.The whistle should be used to stop the beginning of plays, not the end of them.

as a football official that has officiated more games than I count, I do not know if there has been one game where I HAVEN'T heard a coach say "play to the whistle".....and that is fine, but if you don't have a whistle, then you have guys taking cheap shots outside of a pileup, etc.....a guy could have his forward progress stopped and continue to be held up while a another defender comes in a snot bubbles him........you have to have a whistle for many of these reasons.....and it is because of the play to the whistle mentality that you need to help the players and keep them safe.....as officials, we often have to remind players that the play stops the play, not the whistle.....players need to know what is going on araound them, and just because a whistle hasn't blown, doesn't mean they can go clean somebody's clock.....from the other perspective, as football officials we probably do "sit" on our whistle more than any other sport....often it is hard to see exactly when the ball is down, is it still in his possession, etc.....so you want to make sure the play is over....an inadvertant whistle is the worse possible thing you can have....it creates a cluster ####....I have had a few myself, thinking a player is down with the ball, blowing my whistle, only to look up and see the other team running the other way with it...officials are told to be patient with their whistles, but they are necessary....

 

[Ghost Rider]

Honestly, I think the NFL is failing Hochuli big time right now. Okay, there probably isn't much they can do about changing the rule, but they could release a statement saying something to the effect that they will look at the rule to see if it can be improved at all (which will look good, even if it is bull crap), while also standing by their referee, a guy who has been totally stand-up about the mistake he made. But the NFL has basically done nothing. They are leaving Hochuli out to dry.

 

[DenverBuc]

What I don't get is why everybody is acting like this stuff should NEVER happen. Anybody who watches a lot of football at any level knows that sometimes inadvertant whistles happen. Sometimes the ref thinks he sees something and blows the whistle to make a call before he realizes he doesn't need to. Refs have to be very quick with their calls and that means that things like this will sometimes happen.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

He made no overt mental errors that are easily correctable upon thinking them over.

Right. He made a mental error that was not correctable. It's still an error.

It was just one simple slip of the whistle; it happens quite a bit, and the Chargers are not special.

It wasn't a "slip." He blew the whistle and ruled it an incomplete pass, which was the wrong call.

I don't think he's making a "call" when he's blowing the whistle.

Then I have no idea what a "call" is if it's not that. If you don't like the word call, maybe we can call it a "blown ruling," or "blown judgment," or "blown conclusion," or something else. But I think everyone else in the world -- including Ed Hochuli -- will call it a blown call.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Honestly, I think the NFL is failing Hochuli big time right now. Okay, there probably isn't much they can do about changing the rule, but they could release a statement saying something to the effect that they will look at the rule to see if it can be improved at all (which will look good, even if it is bull crap), while also standing by their referee, a guy who has been totally stand-up about the mistake he made. But the NFL has basically done nothing. They are leaving Hochuli out to dry.

I've seen quotes from someone in the NFL office saying that he feels for Hochuli, that Hochuli knows he blew the call and feels terrible about it, but that Hochuli has been an excellent official for 17 years and will continue to be an excellent official in the future. He made a mistake; nobody's perfect; life moves on.That's about all that can be said, no?

(And they have said that they will look at the rule again in the offseason. But that doesn't really help Hochuli. As far as I can tell, nobody blames him for the way the replay rules are written.)

 

[Steelers4Life]

Yes, it was a blown call that allowed Denver another opportunity to win the game. But I'm tired of hearing people say that the Chargers made a play that should have won the game.

They didn't make a play. Cutler was untouched and the ball slipped out of his hands, and the Chargers didn't do anything but have a guy chasing him in the right spot to pick it up. They didn't make a play at any point of the 80 yard winning drive, they didn't make a play to stop Denver from finishing off the drive after the call when they had the Chargers at 3rd and 10, and they didn't make a play on the two point conversion either.

It sucks that the call was missed, but I'd feel a lot worse if the Chargers had actually MADE a play - a sack, a big tackle, an interception, a forced fumble. They didn't, and their inability to make a play in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the game is just as much of a reason they lost.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Good article about Hochuli here.

 

[Truman]

Again, haven't read the thread, or followed Ed's ordeal, but one thing that drives me absolutely nuts, is why refs blow the whistle, period. With instant replay now in full affect, there just isn't the need like before.The whistle should be used to stop the beginning of plays, not the end of them.

The reverse is what drives me nuts. See the play. Make the call. This is how officiating is done in every other sport and the majority of football. Refs at the NFL level are now chicken #### to blow the whistle on any sort of possession play because they are afraid of getting the call wrong and want to let it be decided by replay.How many times have you seen this scenario? Close game, Team A is down by 1 driving w/ 2+ minutes left. Team A has exhausted all of its TOs hoping to get the ball back, or maybe they have just burned them. Similar play as the one we are discussing but it was indeed a forward pass. Referee swallows his whistle allowing play to continue. Team B recovers. Team A is SOL because they can not challenge.I have seen this scenario probably dozens of times more often than ones similar to the Cutler fumble. Sure this was a bad call, but I'll take a game decided by a ref who blows a pure judgement call over one decided because a ref was using IR as a crutch.[/rant]

High five?

 

[Truman]

Good article about Hochuli here.

Thanks for posting. I think fans in all sports are way too critical on officials. Players miss 30 yard FGs. Shooters miss FTs. Roddy White drops game-winning passes. Ed Hochuli is allowed to make mistakes as well. Officials don't get the advantage of multiple replays to see what happens, they have to tell at game speed. These guys aren't getting paid millions to be professionals either, they're part timers. People wonder what these guys would do if they were professional. They would have the opportunity to train more, discuss improvements to their role and not rely on everyday jobs to make a career. You would probably even see more talented officials in the league who abandon officiating due to the sacrifices required.

 

[Ozymandias]

Maybe if he spent less time in the weight room, and more studying football...

 

[Despyzer]

Maybe if he spent less time in the weight room, and more studying football...

You forgot to add /Donahueaudiencemember

 

[ThePittbully]

The thing is, he didn't just blow one call last year, he blew several calls...badly.