“Boycott Super Bowl” is one of the biggest trends on social media lately. This is due to the perception that error-prone officiating has been a recurring theme in the NFL this season. Fans believe that some teams gain an undue advantage and want to hold referees accountable. A few have even called for the referees’ heads.
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While there haven’t been many instances of the NFL firing referees, it has made some tough choices when deemed fit. Case in point: Hugo Cruz, the first NFL official to lose his job midseason in the Super Bowl era.
Back in 2018, referee Hugo Cruz faced intense criticism for not penalizing Los Angeles offensive tackle Russell Okung with a flag. Okung in that particular play executed a false start by dropping back for a block before the snap. This was a blatant flag that the referee somehow failed to spot. Sadly for him, it proved costly as the Chargers went on to score a touchdown. Things went from bad to worse for Cruz. After the match, he was relieved of his duties by the league.
It became a big issue back then. The NFL Referees Association believed the harsh action on Cruz was a “reckless decision” by the league. The association, through its public statement, backed its member and slammed the NFL for making the “knee-jerk” decision.
“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. The NFLRA will protect the collectively bargained rights of all officials and will challenge this reckless decision through the Grievance process.”
Interestingly enough, a report by ESPN’s Kevin Seifert later claimed that the league didn’t let Cruz go just for missing the blatant false start in the Chargers game. In reality, the NFL wasn’t happy with Cruz’s officiating for a while. At that point, Cruz had been officiating for four seasons. As per the league, Cruz hadn’t maintained “a very high level of performance over a sustained period” and was thus let go.
The only way the @NFL @nfloff and @nflcommish will notice we have had enough of the rigging is to hit them where it hurts. #boycottsuperbowl pic.twitter.com/u6xPTsmQqc
— Bills Mafia Rochester (@BillsMafiaRoc) January 29, 2025
While it is rare to see an official getting fired, there have been some rumors circulating on social media lately that the league has suspended seven referees from the AFC Championship game in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills 32-29.
First, this is false news. Secondly, the league rarely makes hasty decisions like these. Typically, the NFL referees are signed on a 12-month contract. If they do well in the regular season, they get the opportunity to work on the postseason games.
After the season concludes, the league conducts a review and makes the decision to either renew, demote, or discontinue the contracts. Due to the short tenure of the contract, firing is usually rare in the NFL.
