NFL Reportedly Fires Official Mid-Season Following Missed Game Penalty

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The NFL reportedly fired a referee mid-season—the first time in the Super Bowl era—due to poor officiating.

Two sources close to the league told The Associated Press about the move, and they spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL hasn’t officially announced the firing.

Down judge Hugo Cruz was part of referee Carl Cheffers’ crew, and he missed a call that led to a touchdown during the Los Angeles Charges-Cleveland Browns game on Oct. 14. Chargers tackle Russell Okung made a false start penalty and nothing was called, and it was Cruz’s assignment.

During that play Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw a 29-yard touchdown to put Los Angeles ahead in the fourth quarter.

Cruz didn’t work the next week.

A spokesman for the NFL Referee’s Association (NFLRA) issued a statement to ESPN.

“The NFL has a troubling history of knee-jerk reactions with an eye on public relations, and clearly it has not learned from past mistakes,” said Scott Green, executive director of the NFLRA. “The NFLRA will protect the collectively bargained rights of all officials and will challenge this reckless decision through the grievance process.”

ESPN reported that Cruz was fired for his overall performance and not just one play. It was his fourth season as an NFL official.

The NFL has 121 officials and 17 officiating crews.

His firing was first reported by FootballZebras.com, a sports news website dedicated to officiating, and it noted that it was the first in-season firing of an official due to performance in the Super Bowl era.

According to the website: “One of the sources confirmed that Cruz was not ’maintaining a very high level of performance over a sustained period,' while another told Football Zebras in March that Cruz’s future with the league was already in jeopardy. This is partially borne out by his lack of postseason assignments for the two seasons he would have qualified for, not counting assignment as an alternate last season. Another oddity that our sources could not find a reason for was that Cruz was assigned to a different crew for 3 of the 6 regular season games he has worked this year.”