Ed Hochuli

Did anyone catch the Jets/Pats game Sunday afternoon? Did you see the time where Ed Hochuli dropped his flag and his explanation that there was no flag because the TV put up the yellow flag graphic? Anyway, they showed on the replay Mark Sanchez getting behind center ready to call the play and yelling three times at Hochuli that he dropped his flag. (I'm actually not sure if it was Ed's because normally the referee stands behind the offensive line, but in the explanation Ed referred to himself.)

Before the explanation, I could see this situation developing. It didn't look like there was a penalty on the particular play, but yet the TV put up the flag graphic, however the officials didn't have that look about them as if there was a penalty that needed to be administered. So I waited even more eager because I knew Hochuli was the referee (and his reputation for explaining calls) and was salivating at the possible ways he was going to clarify the tiny confusion.

The reason I was so excited was because 90% of referees would just pick up the flag (wave it above their head) and say "there was no flag on the play" and move on. But this is an Ed Hochuli game. No way he's going to let it go that easy.

So, to the best of my memory, it went something like this:

"There was no flag on the play. My flag fell out of my pocket when I was................................Screw it. I can't do it justice. I found it on You Tube.





From Wikipedia: One of Hochuli's notable explanations came during a 2007 regular season game between the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots. While nullifying a holding infraction, he announced through his microphone, "There was no foul on the play. It was not a hold. The defender was just overpowered." Awesome.

Even more awesome is this: I found it!