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Referee Hochuli may have missed the call, but it was the NFL that fumbled
By Lauren | September 21, 2008
In the interests of taking a break from the melodrama on Wall Street, let’s turn to the world of professional sports, where another drama is unfolding. A week ago, referee Ed Hochuli blew a call in a critical game. Hochuli’s error cost the Chargers a victory and, with the amount of money at stake in pro football, there’s no way to dismiss the mistake as minor.
Nonetheless, Hochuli deserves a lot of credit for how he’s handled the fallout. Not only has Hachuli apologized to the Chargers and the public for the mistake, he’s gone several steps further, personally responding to each and every e-mail and text message in the angry torrent that’s poured down on him since the game. Washington Post reporter Michael Wilbon lauded Hochuli in an article on Friday, observing that Hochuli had “acted in as sportsmanlike a manner as is humanly possible … It’s difficult to remember anybody involved in professional sports being more accountable for a mistake in recent years.”
So, has the NFL supported Hochuli, praised his integrity, and taken responsibility for its own refusal to quickly change the rule that made it impossible for instant replay to correct Hochuli’s honest mistake? Nope - not at all. Instead, the NFL issued a high and mighty statement saying “Officials are held accountable for their calls … Ed’s been an outstanding official for many years, but he will be marked down for this call.” The NFL’s statement even suggested that Hochuli, arguably one of the best referees in the NFL, may not be retained.
Come on, guys - nobody’s perfect! Even the best referee can get it wrong when making a split-second call, which is why we have instant replay. Instead of threatening to fire Hachuli, the NFL should step up, fix its rules, and publicly apologize to Hachuli for failing to stand behind him in a painful situation. Hachuli’s shown a lot of integrity and courage - it’s time for the NFL to do the same.
To read Michael Wilbon’s article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091804098.html.
Topics: Apologies, Business Ethics, Personal Ethics, Social Ethics, corporate responsibility, ethics |