For the first time in the Super Bowl era, the NFL has canned one of their officials in the middle of the regular season.
Down judge Hugo Cruz was fired by the league Thursday for an egregious missed false start call during the Chargers-Browns Week 6 game that resulted in a touchdown that should have never happened.
The NFL has fired down judge Hugo Cruz, who missed a clear false start on #Chargers OT Russell Okung in Week 6, per @footballzebras. This is the first time in the Super Bowl era that the NFL has fired an official in the middle of the regular season.pic.twitter.com/cmLpOD7BKC
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) October 25, 2018
Barring the situation being the first of it’s kind in over 50 years, there presumably was some sort of warning before the missed call above that led to the former soccer referee turned NFL official being let go.