Why is he calling a playoff game?
"NEW YORK (AP) — Ed Hochuli's acknowledgement that he erred on a call late in Sunday's San Diego-Denver game will mean lower grades for one of the NFL's highest profile referees.
"Officials are held accountable for their calls. They are graded on every play of every game," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday. "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."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wasn't surprised that Hochuli was involved.
"That particular official gets a lot of criticism. He's a highly criticized official in the NFL," Jones said."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2008-09-15-hochuli_N.htm
"Saints' Reggie Bush Fumbles, Ed Hochuli's Crew Misses Blatant Facemask on Vikings"
"During tonight's Saints-Vikings game in New Orleans,
Reggie Bush took a handoff and was met near the line of scrimmage by Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway. Greenway grabbed Bush's facemask and pulled, jerking Bush's head toward him, and then knocked the ball out of Bush's arm.
The Vikings jumped on the ball, but that shouldn't have mattered. The Vikings would be called for facemasking, the Saints would accept the penalty, and they'd have the ball, first-and-10. Right?
Wrong. The officials missed the facemasking. How they missed it I have no idea: This was a blatant facemask, the kind of clip you'd show to someone who didn't know anything about football if you wanted to explain what facemasking was. There is absolutely no excuse for the officials not calling it.
But they didn't call it, and the fact that the crew that missed the call is led by referee
Ed Hochuli is going to be another black mark on Hochuli's record. Heading into this season, Hochuli was probably the most highly respected referee in the NFL. But between
his horrendous call on Jay Cutler's Week 2 fumble and tonight's blown call by Hochuli's crew, that reputation is gone."
All I can say is if this is his reward, rest of the refs must really be bad.
