Asked for an assessment of NFL officiating this 2008 season, a league spokesman said, "Same as it normally is. Outstanding, not perfect. That's the nature of sports."
The nature of sports can be difficult to stomach . . . for coaches with jobs on the line; for players with playoff bonuses at stake; for fans heavily invested, psychologically and financially, in their teams.
Consider Week 2 when referee Ed Hochuli blew his whistle as Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler lost his grip while moving his arm backward before a likely late-fourth-quarter pass. The ball slipped loose, a San Diego Chargers linebacker fell on it and it appeared a key AFC West road victory had been secured.
Wrong. Hochuli's whistle indicating an incomplete pass changed everything. The call meant the play was not reviewable. Denver retained possession and used the precious waning seconds to score a deciding touchdown and two-point conversion. A San Diego radio station repeated throughout the season a desperate caller asking a haunting question: "We won! But we lost?"
It took until the final week of the season for San Diego to edge Denver for the AFC West title and playoff spot and let Hochuli off the hook.
"Come on," said Barry Mano, president of the National Assn. of Sports Officials. "Lots of decisions were made and lots of tackles were missed after that call. What should be noted about that call is that, yes, Ed screwed up, and he admitted it. Then he and his crew went back at it and had an outstanding season, just like a team coming off a defeat. You saw the mettle of the man after that call. Nobody went hiding under a bushel basket, and the rest of his crew's season showed you that."
Hochuli, an attorney, spent the days after Denver-San Diego responding with apologies to hundreds of e-mails sent to his Phoenix law office, but his crew wound up grading so well for the next 15 weeks it earned a cherished playoff assignment, working the Baltimore-Miami contest.
It did so, however, as other crews navigated a season dotted by controversial calls.
In early November, a video replay on an NBC Sunday night telecast appeared to show New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning had crossed the line of scrimmage before completing a critical third-down pass for a first down inside the five-yard line. That was the call on the field. But a replay convinced officials Manning's heel was behind the line of scrimmage when he released the ball, setting up a touchdown in what would be a five-point victory at NFC East rival Philadelphia.
