NFL says Hochuli got no help from replay assistant or league office

Posted by Mike Florio on December 31, 2015, 7:32 AM EST
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Monday night’s game between the Bengals and Broncos included a moment that many have interpreted as someone using video to inform referee Ed Hochuli that his crew had missed a facemask foul. Former NFL V.P. of officiating Mike Pereira believes it. Broncos coach Gary Kubiak believes it. I believe it. (And I’m fine with it.)

The NFL doesn’t believe it.

“It was a crew conference that led to the flag,” the league told PFT via email on Wednesday. Via follow-up questions aimed at addressing the possibility that the replay assistant or league office had a role in the crew conference, the NFL said that neither was involved.

The denial won’t change many minds, because the league has no choice but to deny it. Admitting the use of replay to call fouls would constitute a blatant violation of league protocol, even if the the ends justify the means.

The only one outside the league office who knows the truth on this is Ed Hochuli. And before assuming that maybe he’ll slip at some point or bare his soul once his time as an NFL official ends, keep this in mind: His son, Shawn, currently is an NFL game official and Hochuli won’t want to do anything to screw that up.

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41 responses to “NFL says Hochuli got no help from replay assistant or league office”

  1. “It was a crew conference that led to the flag,” the league told PFT via email on Wednesday.

    Well, then, that explains everything…

    Normally you see a crew conference AFTER a flag is thrown by an official, not before.

    If someone sees what they think is a penalty, they throw a flag. If someone else had a better view of the play, then they conference and the flag is picked up.

    Why did they decide to “conference” on something no one saw well enough to throw a flag?

    Inquiring minds want to know the truth, not the latest coverup by the NFL…

  2. If the league says that’s what happened, I’m sure that’s what happened. They have integrity.

  4. and the lies coming out of the NFL NY offices continue.

    does anyone still give these guys any credibility?

    i mean other than the rump swab Mort.

  5. He made up for it by giving the game winning 15 yards to Burfict for his little shove on the sideline.

  10. One thing I’ll never understand is why anyone issues statements or denials in the first place. They are never believed anyway.

  18. The NFL’s credibility has hit rock bottom.

    Even if Hochuli’s crew received no help on the facemask penalty it still leaves the question of why the game wasn’t stopped on McCarron’s fumble/incomplete pass in overtime to allow for a proper review of the play.

    Kubiak was basically forced to use his second and final timeout just to get the play reviewed as it obviously should have been regardless of if the play was overturned or not. This could have been the difference in a highly contested game.

    For an enterprise making the kind of money the NFL does it is disappointing the league still does not see the need for full-time referees or the need for additional on field referees.

    The speed of the game today and the complexity of the rules demand it.

  19. How do you prove a negative ?Let us just say the Pats are in the identical situation as last SB.
    Game on the line only this time Pete gives the ball to Lynch and he scores .Under what set of circumstances would the League office over turn the TD? Would the Pats ever get a favorable call?
    Would an obvious face masked missed by the officials and then be called and the winning TD nullified ?Would anyone believe the Pats would be given any benefit of a 50-50 play?
    This is a set up that will allow for the league to put its thumb on the scale anytime it wishes.
    If the NFL wishes to become the WWE then this would be the fastest way to do it.

  21. I full expect something like this to happen in the Packers favor against the Vikings this week.

  22. The NFL’s credibility hit rock bottom when Goodell “protected the league” by destroying the evidence of the patriots cheating. The only thing he protected was his friend and that was the beginning of the end of any trust in the league.

  23. It’s a sorry state of affairs when Al Jezeera is more truthful and honest than the NFL and BSPN!

    After Deflategate turned out to totally fraudulent and made-up, the NFL is still pushing it. Even after admitting in court they had ZERO evidence, they’re persisting. Now some Blandino alone is deciding the outcome of games. Seattle is loving this!

  24. We’ve seen in the past a ref that is totally out of position throw a flag for something that is out of his area. Like if he was watching downfield and just happened to look back and see holding in the backfield. You know it’s from an odd official because the TV announcers always point it out.
    So they have a conference to find out why the flag was thrown. They never get together to talk about why a flag WASN’T thrown; it’s said that there’s holding in the trenches on every play so this kind of thing would bring the game to a crawl.
    So, in sum, I throw the BS flag on the NFL comment.

  26. They got it right. Who cares how it happened.
    Fans and media would have made a big deal had it not been called and had it cost a team a game. Instead they whine and cry that the correct call was eventually made.

    It helped my team, who still lost by the way, but I would have felt no different had it happened against us.

  27. “thegrey7 says:
    Dec 31, 2015 9:43 AM

    I full expect something like this to happen in the Packers favor against the Vikings this week.”

    Tell your team not to grab a facemask and they can’t call it. It’s that simple.
    People act like it was a bad call. It was the absolute correct call. I can understand had it not been a face mask, but it was.

  28. The REAL issue here is NOT whether a Face mask call SHOULD have been made. The issue is, regardless of the league release, that the referees watched the Jumbotron and threw the flag over 20 seconds AFTER the play had ended. The ball was set. The Bengals were lined up to play the next down and just seconds before the snap the officials threw the flag. Calls are missed in every NFL game. Not good but it happens. However, there is absolutely no provision in league rules or protocol to huddle after a replay is shown on the Jumbotron and then throw a flag.

  29. @spungy–If you believe that these two calls are even the same you are a total partisan hack. The face mask call was made after an illegal huddle after the replay was shown on the Jumbotron and over 20 seconds after the ball was set and the Bengals lined up to snap another play. The PF flag was thrown IMMEDIATELY. NOT 20+ seconds later after a referee huddle. BOTH were infractions. However, one was properly called and the other was not. There is no league protocol or rule that allows for the refs to watch the replay between downs and call something that everyone missed initially. The lack of the crew upstairs to NOT review the McCarron fumble was also a miscarriage of justice. It was awesome to see McCarron fumble and have it CLEARLY recovered by Ware. THAT was a situation the refs could not POSSIBLY get away with. I am almost surprised that the refs did not huddle and say they saw a “phantom” offside thereby nullifying the fumble.

  31. The emperor has no clothes on, there for all to watch. Fair and balance is gone with the ( yellow flag ) wind. Bill

  32. It was the right call, against my team, but the right call. I’m ok with it. If you don’t want the penalty don’t grab the damn facemask!

  33. So the refs were able to “right a wrong” before the next play was begun. Good for them. This was the right thing to do and the correct call to make.

  36. If you all want the truth, the truth is that the replay official told him it was a penalty. Yes the referees are in contact with the replay official and league offices at all times. This is all confirmed by someone very knowledgeable of what happened.

    This would obviously cause a lot of questions to be asked if the nfl admitted it, which is obviously why they are denying it.

  37. lol..hoculi and his whole crew need to be let go.. not because they made the right cal. here but because they conference after every flag and pick up far too many obvious flags…incompetent..

  39. The NFL has a say in everything…The Refs are told and controlled before , during, and after the game. They want certain teams to win and lose. It’s all in the mighty dollar. They want money generating teams in and that’s the bottom line .The Refs call it accordingly.

  40. Officiating this year has just been outrageously terrible. Just rule every close play a turnover or TD because they are reviewed anyway. You force teams to waste timeouts and challenges on those kinds of plays when the league can just review them

  41. Since both Hochuli and Florio are lawyers, they can settle it in the court room. And if that doesn’t break the tie, then they should arm wrestle for…da truth!

    I still think that Hochuli is using HGH.

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