NFL Fires Ref in Midseason Due to Poor Performance for First Time in Decades

For the first time in the Super Bowl era, the NFL has fired a referee in the middle of the season.

Hugo Cruz, who had served as a down judge since 2015, was fired this week for poor performance and not meeting the NFL’s standard over a sustained period of time.

Ranked as a referee who was good enough to work playoff games last season, Cruz was not great in 2018 and presumably missed a number of calls.

The last straw for the NFL was a false start by Los Angeles Chargers left tackle Russell Okung that should have negated a touchdown in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns.

Thanks to Cruz not blowing the whistle, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tyrell Williams as LA cruised to a 38-14 win.

Here’s the missed call:

I have never seen a more blatant false start in my life. How was this not called on the #Chargers touchdown? More #Browns bad luck. #LACvsCLE pic.twitter.com/e1sSw1yyam

— Ben Krimmel (@BenKrimmel) October 14, 2018

Following that mistake in Week 6, Cruz did not work a game in Week 7.

“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 NFL Referees Association. “The NFLRA will protect the collectively bargained rights of all officials and will challenge this reckless decision through the grievance process.”

Under its CBA with the NFL, the NFLRA has up to 90 days to file the grievance against the league.

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